Teaching is tough, not because students are challenging, that’s just what keeps it fun and interesting! The reason it’s a challenging is because you’re …
Teaching is tough, not because students are challenging, that’s just what keeps it fun and interesting! The reason it’s a challenging is because you’re imparting knowledge based on information that you’ve gathered through your experiences. While many students will listen to what you teach them, they won’t internalize it until they have their own experiences!
Learning is a Loop
My approach to teaching is a little bit different, maybe even a little Mr. Miyagi-esque. I create lessons that will enable people to have those experiences! In my lectures I teach students some basic principles, and then after I’ve taught it to them, I have them practice the principles, IRL-style! They have to report back, and then share their findings with other students. This creates a nice feedback loop, where students learn, experience, share, and as a result internalize what they’ve learned.
In my Lean Product Development course, one of the hands-on labs exercises is to reach out to potential early adopters, and conduct short interview to understand the mindset of an early adopter. Students shouldn’t talk about their idea, nor sell anything, an additional catch is that students cannot interview friends and family! They maybe introduced to an early adopter, but the point is to meet with someone who will provide unbiased feedback. In the lecture prior to the lab, I explain how to conduct an interview with a potential early adopter, provide interview examples, and give them reasons as to why this is an important step in future product development. Then I have the students do the lab. The objectives of this lab exercise are to understand the early adopter, see if the problem the student thinks the early adopter is having is actually a problem, and of course to pinpoint characteristics of those who maybe early adopters.
This is a rather challenging lab, because it might be the first time that a student has to reach out to a complete stranger and ask them for their time. It’s also challenging because students have to get people to open up to them! However, it can be a really rewarding exercise.
Let’em Loose to Learn
One of my students went through the exercise and shared her findings with other students in the lab. Her goal in conducting her interview was to validate if people were experiencing Problem X, because she had a solution for Problem X, a product idea that she wanted to pursue. It was still in the ideation phase, nothing had been built yet.
During lab she shared the story of what happened during the interview. The interviewee mentioned that he did have Problem X, but it was actually not as big of a deal as Problem Y! Problem Y was actually costing his business a lot of time and money, and he wasn’t happy with existing products he was using to resolve Problem Y. He really wished someone would solve Problem Y, and even mentioned how much he might be willing to pay for a solution!
After the interview, my student shared her story with the other students during the lab, and her main takeaways from the experience were the following:
Validating an initial product idea. Her initial hypothesis of Problem X being a really big problem was slightly off, but it was early enough to do a course correction.
Conducting the interview was eye-opening! She had a very simple conversation, and was able to unfold problems someone was experiencing.
She was able to test her idea without having to build anything! Saving herself from making a heavy investment in resources through a simple conversation.
During the interview, she discovered that the interviewee had a completely different issue he was dealing with. While it might have been a little disheartening to have her hypothesis be less than spot on, it let her test her idea without having to build anything! She had a very simple conversation, and was able to unfold problems someone was experiencing. She even set a challenge up for herself, to see who else has Problem Y!
Peer Proof
Sharing her story with the other students in the lab helped them to learn from her experience as well. Some students will just think that the instructor is wrong or has a skewed opinion. But if they hear what you teach them reinforced from their peer, they are more likely to find your teaching credible.
[quote author=”Mr. Miyagi, Original Karate Kid”]”Lesson not just karate only. Lesson for whole life. Whole life have a balance. Everything be better. Understand?”[/quote]
