Spoon-feeding
Spoon-feeding sounds like something we do to babies, right? If you ask experienced people whether spoon-feeding is right or wrong, I bet most of them will tell you it’s bad. I believe the answer is not black & white. It depends. First of all, we’ve all been spoon-fed. (Or at least most of us). This is what our parents did when we were not able to feed ourselves. This is what teachers do when you are entirely new to something. This is what we should be doing to put people on the right track. We’ve all been told certain things to allow us to practise, get better, and get to the next phase. There is a thin line between stimulating in a supportive way, and leaving people behind with no help whatsoever.
In “Leadership and the One Minute Manager – Increasing effectiveness through situational leadership II”, Ken Blanchard explains 4 different “development levels”. One of these levels is defined by a high commitment and low competence. This may be the place where you are right now. You’re quite excited about learning something new, but you have no idea on where to start. For scenario’s like this, some spoon-feeding can be useful. It doesn’t mean that someone else will do all of the hard work for you, but simply being told to “go figure it out” without giving directed pointers or hints is not useful either. As soon as you learn more (and become more competent), you’ll discover that there is much more to learn. At this point, you may find yourself becoming less committed, because you’re starting to realise there is still a long road ahead (which can be quite demotivating). This is normal too. At this point, spoon-feeding won’t help. In this case, coaching is more appropriate. Asking the right questions will force people to think, to apply the knowledge they already have, and look for answers. If they’re stuck after all, and have no way to discover answers themselves, perhaps it’s time to take one step back and get some detailed help after all. So – please be careful when being negative about spoon-feeding. The situation (development level) determines whether it’s the right approach or not.