On The Job Training

I missed yesterday's Friday Five. Well, plus the last month's worth of Friday Fives. Seriously though, who said this job transition this is easy? Because they need to attend Telling The Truth class 101. Yeesh.

One of the new parts of my job is commuting to a second office that is about an hour and a half from where I live. I only do that once or twice a week, but really, driving doesn't bother me anyway. I get to stay caught up on all my favorite podcasts, practice my voice exercises, and learn some Italian.

I also get to listen to my friend Missy on the radio in the morning. She is the local host for Morning Edition on a public station near here. Recently on her program, someone was interviewing Joe Biden about how he wants to be the President. Now, I know very little about Sen Biden (and most of what I know, I learned in this interview). But he said something that got under my skin: when asked why he should be President, he said "because this isn't the time for on-the-job training."

Perhaps I'm a little sensitive, being in the midst of job transition and all, but... Excuse me? Watching someone do a job (even, or especially, if they do it rather badly...) is simply not the same as knowing how to do the job yourself. Some things can only be learned by doing. Preparation is important, knowledge and theory and history all matter. But a job of that magnitude simply must include some on-the-job training. To think otherwise is to miss opportunities for growth, and maybe even for greatness.