Teach to fish or give a fish?

SGT Ben Keen — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 11:57:22 -0400

There is no doubt as many leadership styles as there are people in the world. And each person has his/her own reaction to that particular leadership style; either good or bad.

Today at work we were talking about this topic and the question came up; "Which is better? Showing someone how to fish or saving the time and fishing for them?" My answer was you actually save time by showing someone how to do something rather than doing it for them and hoping they catch on. While yes, doing it for them saves you time and effort on the front end, you lose time on the back end because you may have to do 2 or 3 times if not more for them to catch on.

Of course others in the group felt the other way which is fine; again, there are different leadership styles. So my question to the RallyPoint community is which do you think is better? Do you have any examples when one method worked better than the other? Does the military try and teach the leaders of the military one way over another on how to lead?

Response by 1SG Chris Brown made Sep 22 at 2014 1:45 PM

1SG Chris Brown — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 13:45:38 -0400

There are probably as many opinions on this as there are people on this site. I look at every Soldier I interact with as my replacement. I have 24 years, and plan on doing 26ish. All of the NCOs in my unit are treated by me as the next generation of senior leadership for the Army. I don't want to just get something done today. I want my NCOs to learn how to accomplish misisons and take care of Soldiers through experience so they are ready to replace me in the coming years. Ultimately, none of us is going to stay in the military forever. It is on us to share our knowledge and experience so that our replacements, the younger NCOs/Soldiers, will be prepared to lead the Army well beyond our departure.

Response by PO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 23 at 2014 12:33 PM

PO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 12:33:46 -0400

Teach them to fish. I always looked at it this way; it's great to have all the knowlege and experience, but war doesn't care. If I became a casualty then I wanted those below me to have as much knowlege and experience to save my ship, my shipmates and myself - especially if I was unconscious and unable to help in the effort!

Foolish is the leader that thinks they will survive a battle - for they will most likely be the first casualty.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 24 at 2014 7:57 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 07:57:22 -0400

As I tell every class of new students, " all of the knowledge and experience that I have acquired through my years in uniform does me no good when I die, therefore it is my duty to pass it on"
All too often I see NCOs that are either fearful of teaching soldiers because retaining the higher knowledge gives them some sense of power over the naive or they themselves just don't know enough.
I was recently informed that a prospective student is concerned about attending my course because there might be extensive map reading involved. Mind you I only teach NCOs and often just seniors so it pains me that they don't know the basics but are tasked to train the juniors.
I was blessed by hard ass NCOs that didn't let me stop until I was proficient at the task being trained. They didn't punch the clock at 1700 like I see done today, they went home when the job was done.

Response by SSG Jacob Wiley made Sep 24 at 2014 8:11 AM

SSG Jacob Wiley — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 08:11:43 -0400

ALWAYS teach to fish. If it is given, that individual never develops a desire to do for themselves. If someone is unwilling to learn, still don't give it to them. Let them be hungry.

Self motivation and one's personal drive is paramount in anything. If a person chooses to be lazy, strive for nothing, and rely on everyone else, that person is a dredge on us all and a burden.

Response by 1SG Dustin Springer made Sep 24 at 2014 9:37 AM

1SG Dustin Springer — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 09:37:02 -0400

This all so familiar too me. As an instructor, cycle after cycle there are far too many junior Soldier's attending the course that have no idea of certain 10 level tasks, i.e. Land navigation, Battle Drill 1 and 1A, and PRT. In my opinion there leaders or so called leaders failed them by not preparing them for the course. but like SSG Jacob Wiley stated self motivation and drive is paramount in our success. As leaders we must take the time to coach, teach, and mentor our junior Soldier's so that they are prepared to take charge in the absence of orders without question.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 24 at 2014 9:43 AM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 09:43:17 -0400

I really think this is a misapplication of "give a fish/teach to fish." As long as the person is expected to pick up a skill, you are in the end teaching them to fish. What you're discussing are the ways one may go about said teaching. Unless you're talking about picking up the slack for their skills gap potentially forever, then "give a fish" doesn't really fit.

There are merits to the different forms of skill learning; depending on the task or the individual, different approaches may be necessary. Some people are more visual learners, and will better pick up a lesson after demonstration. Others are repetition learners, and need to do the task themselves repeatedly to cement the knowledge. Some people are quick learners of almost everything, while others can study/practice endlessly and still manage to make mistakes often. Likewise, some tasks are highly technical and prone to error from even minor aspects being done wrong, while others are simple and/or robust and are difficult to screw up. Along another avenue, some tasks -- no matter how technical -- are intuitive, while others will elude common sense.

The key thing is that if you have only one way of teaching, one "style", your leadership skills are not adequately developed. Leading doesn't just mean which way you teach, but the adaptability to teach whatever way is most beneficial for the circumstances, and even more importantly the ability to figure out which way is that most beneficial way.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 24 at 2014 9:59 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 09:59:47 -0400

I can't understand why anybody would disagree with "teaching them to fish." as a complete philosophy.Now, I can appreciate that there are sometimes when somebody is screwing up so badly as to get someone else hurt. In this case, if time is of the essence, sometimes doing it yourself is the most effective way to get it done in order to minimize damage.
If folks aren't shown how to do something, they can't teach anyone else, and you end up with a Charlie Foxtrot of people running into each other, completely helpless and sometimes totally apathetic.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 24 at 2014 11:02 AM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 11:02:36 -0400

I have been taught the fire analogy. You give a man fire he will be warn for a night. You teach him how to make fire he will be warm every winter. But if you set him on fire he will be warm for the rest of his life.

Response by Capt Chris McVeigh made Sep 24 at 2014 1:20 PM

Capt Chris McVeigh — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 13:20:33 -0400

Sometimes you have to give out fish to keep the unit from starving. But while they eat those fish you should be teaching them how to get more, so that when you leave there will still be fish.

Response by SSG Toryn Green made Sep 24 at 2014 7:39 PM

SSG Toryn Green — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 19:39:09 -0400

Always teach. As NCOs, our job is to be leaders and mentors. That means teaching others what you know and sharing your knowledge. Yes, many times it's easier to just do it for them, but ask yourself, " how is this benefiting the soldier?" If you just do it for them, it's not to their benefit because they aren't learning anything and as a leader, it's not to your benefit because you will just have to do it for them every time.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 25 at 2014 12:52 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 25 Sep 2014 00:52:34 -0400

Always always show how to fish. Now that may mean you fish for them and let them watch you at first, but in the end they need to fish for themselves.