The first time somebody shows you how to do a job, you watch their hands. The second time, if they?re any good at teaching, they watch yours.

I learned the Marine way in boot camp, where ?gentle? wasn?t exactly the word for it. Later, other Marines showed me how to do the job and stuck around while I tried it myself. That second part mattered. I could follow what they were doing well enough. With my own hands on the job, I found out what I?d missed.

I think about those Marines around the Marine Corps birthday. I also think about the people who?ve done the same thing for me since. Sometimes it was a coworker who took a minute to tell me something I could?ve spent half the afternoon figuring out.

What you do without thinking

Say you?re showing somebody where to find a form. You open the shared folder, go past the first file, and click the one farther down. You know the first file is an old version. You probably don?t even remember when you learned that.

The person beside you saw you open a folder and click a file. Unless you tell them why you skipped the first one, they?ll probably use it next time. Then they'll find out the same way you did.

That?s the kind of thing we overlook when we wonder what we have to teach somebody. We?re looking for some big lesson to pass along. Meanwhile, the person at the next desk could use one sentence about a form.

Give them a turn

I?ve reached over and done something for somebody because I was in a hurry. It felt helpful at the time. Then the same problem came up again, and they had to ask me what I?d done. I saved a little time the first day and spent it again the next.

When you show somebody a task this week, give them the next turn. Stay close enough to answer a question, and give them a few seconds to work it out before you reach in. If they get stuck where you used to get stuck, tell them. It helps to hear that the person who makes it look easy had to learn it, too.

Think of one job you can do now without giving it much thought. What did somebody take the time to show you? Someone in your day could probably use those same few minutes.