Micromentoring

It’s… overwhelming, the amount of information we share with each other every day.

Most of my friends are starting, or are about to start, internships via their colleges for their various chosen career paths. Internships are great. They’re almost as great as having a mentor.

A mentor is someone who is doing what you want to do, and has seen enough potential in you to take you under their wing. They’ll share the tricks of the trade with you. They’ll introduce you to the people you need to know to get your foot, and hopefully the rest of your body, in the door.

But mentors and internships are usually very formal. They’re usually pre-arranged. And limiting yourself to one mentor is limiting the potential experience you’re going to gain. I want to talk more about the daily mentoring we all provide and receive through normal conversation.

Before Alex (nerimon) embarks on a new project of any kind, he’ll typically write me an email or give me a call and want to discuss it. He’s not looking for hollow praise or reassurance for his idea; he’s looking for a real opinion of areas to strengthen. He’s… “beta testing” the idea on me, for lack of a better phrase, and he’s checking to see if I’ve already worked on something similar. If I can advise him to any potential or actual pitfalls. If I know of anyone working on something similar that he could discuss it with, etc.

I don’t care what any of those personality tests conclude; the best way to learn how to do something will always be to actually do something; to experience it for yourself. But it would take ten lifetimes to experience everything. And a lot of failing to go it alone, without any guidance. The point of him coming to me first is not so I can tell him what to do or how to do it, but for him to gain some second-hand experience before attempting it himself.

Let’s call it micromentoring.

The internet has only taken this practice of micromentoring and magnified it 100x. John Green calls us the “collective surplus”. He could pose any question or task to his online audience and be confident that not only will the call be answered, but probably so thoroughly answered that he’ll have to then call for a stop in people contributing.

Yesterday we discussed a bit about ideas, and their value. Hank Green once told me that online, your ideas are the only thing you have of value. That doesn’t mean you should be charged for every instant message chat you have, but if you find yourself consistently asking the same few people for advice or help, recognize that and thank them for the experience and knowledge they’re sharing with you. And if you yourself are a “genius” in some area, my hope is that you’re willingly sharing what you know with others.