Can you swim? If yes, did you ever take formal lessons, or did you simply grow up in and around water? I grew up near the ocean, in a part of the country where beaches, swimming pools, lakes and ponds are all very common. For children in this area, being in the water is natural on pretty much any day where it’s warm. So like most kids in my demographic, I can swim simply because I’ve been in water since before I could walk.
If you’re like me, imagine trying to explain to someone how to swim if that person has never seen a body of water larger than a bathtub before. Imagine a young child from a landlocked, desert country. Never seen a pool, let alone an ocean. And explain to them – verbally – how to swim.
It is very unlikely that they will be successful their first time, based only on your instructions. Not just because of their own inexperience, but yours. You’re an experienced swimmer, sure. But a very inexperienced swimming instructor.
The more intuitive something is for you, the harder it will be for you to teach it to someone for whom it is not intuitive at all. The gap is too wide for the limited tools you have. Experience teaching something is different than experience doing it.
To truly rise to the heights in a given skill, you need to do more than just be good at it. You need to be able to teach, to inform, to impart knowledge – so practice when you can.
The Opportunity Machine 