Nobody likes being told what to do. But that might just be missing the point.
There are broadly speaking 4 types of knowledge. The first two are explicit. “Propositional”, do this, don’t do that. And “procedural”, follow this process to get this outcome. It works. Until it doesn’t.
Now if you are feeling triumphant at this point, hear me out.
“All models are wrong, some are useful.” This amorphism by the statistician George Box reminds us that it is better, to begin with, something that makes sense than point at the flaws and do nothing at all.
Solving people’s problems by telling them what to do is useful. Especially when time is running out. Since there is little time to waste on experimenting.
I’m thinking here about helping kids develop fundamental movement skills. But I could equally apply the same argument to novice coaches or just about any other pursuit in which you are green.
Rob Parsons, author of The Sixty minute Father has this to say. “Eighteen years of our children’s lives contain 6570 days. If your child is 10 years old, 3650 days have already passed. You have 2920 days left.”
If you don’t like what you see when you ask your 10-year-old child to do a press-up, a pull-up, a squat, and pick something up from the floor. Here is a model to help you see where you sit in the process of Crawl, Walk, Run. We need you to step up and become decisive about your role in the development of your child’s fundamental movement skills.
You can see from the table. In the Crawl stage, you follow directives. Do this, don’t do that. The application of defined constraints. Since it’s mostly body weight, there is very little risk and lots of upside. Anyone can play in this area, and they should.
| Crawl | Walk | Run | |
| Description of each stage | Can YOU help me to control my own body weight? | Can I control the external load (to body weight)? | Can We create a high-performance environment? |
| Product of the environment Copy Monkey See Monkey Do | Shapeshifting Earn the right to lift external loads | It’s on ME When do I do my best work? | |
| BE: Define | Do: Shift through trial and error | SAY: Create meaning | |
| Prescription | Directive bases fitness.Application of defined constraints. | Application of directives until they don’t work. | Development of directives or guardrails through the creative process of trial and error. |
| Innate ability to move | Retain the innate ability to move | Retain the innate ability to move | |
| Delivery | Volunteer CoachesSupported by subject expertise | Mentorship: Coaching the gap | Coaching |
| Propositional KnowledgeProcedural Knowledge | Perspective Knowledge | Participatory/Experiential Knowledge |
And if you are wondering about the other two types of knowledge.
Perspective knowledge provides us with a new lens through which to see the world. A shift in perspective.
Participatory knowledge is gained through lived experience. Experiential learning.
Although easily bluffed, true implicit knowledge is gained through trial and error. The type of error that stings you so bad you want to, need to, learn from the experience. And that’s not for everyone.
To truly learn from experience we need to answer the question. What is the point?
Seth Godin, calls it the dip. “I’m in the shit.” “ It’s not working the way they said it would. Now what?”
In the dip, we quit.
Actively quitting to protect our resources.
Passively quitting because we feel overwhelmed.
Or we push on.
If trial and error is your strategy simply because you don’t like people telling you what to do. Now would be a good time to reconsider that strategy. Because without the explicit directives of procedural and propositional knowledge, there will be little or no framework on which to sit your learning.
With no time to waste. No conceptual framework on which to base your learning. The smart question might be.
What do you need me to do?