It’s amazing to me how many veteran IT gurus are unwilling to teach people new to the industry. I remember logging onto IRC chat rooms and seeing one person after another being degraded or insulted for asking valid legitimate questions. I was shocked to find that this was NOT the norm in the amateur (ham) radio hobby. In amateur radio culture, an Elmer is a person who teaches and nurtures the neophyte amateur radio operator. We NEED Elmers in IT.
I understand that there is a big difference between a “hobby” and an actual business profession. I also understand that some of these IT veterans see their job as just that, a job. For me, it is not just a job, my job IS MY HOBBY. Imagine that, a job that is so enjoyable that you actually WANT to do it. I feel that those who feel like me are the same people who are not opposed to teaching a newbie to my “hobby”.
So what can we do for these individuals who are not thrilled to be in the trenches with us? I tend to agree with books like Drive and the Strength Finder series; we need to let everyone do what they love. Telling a “it’s just a job” individual to teach a neophyte can be very challenging. The goal becomes finding what part of the “job” this individual actually enjoys. It will take some detective work to find the answer but with enough prodding you can find some passion in this individual. Please note, this will not always be a tech related skill. I had one individual who REALLY loved PowerPoint. Let me tell you, the 1 hour presentation this person gave was amazing. He was extremely well versed and even PowerPoint haters were upping their presentations after that presentation.
I think setting up a regularly scheduled teach a topic session can have many benefits for any IT department. It gives individuals a forum to talk about what they like, gives management an inexpensive training resource and helps enhance the skill of those attending. I recommend it as a topic of conversation at your next team meeting.
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. –Chinese Proverb



December 7th, 2011
Edwin 








