The Shovel

The Shovel


A pretty funny thing happened between my wife and me, and I thought everyone might get a kick out of the story. It also shows the importance of training in the workplace.

One beautiful Florida day my wife and I were working outside in the yard. My wife loves gardening and I was pressure washing the driveway. My wife had decided that she wanted to dig up a large area of the yard to build a berm and add some new landscaping. This required quite a bit of digging with a shovel. She had little experience using a shovel for anything more than a few minutes at a time and was having a really hard time with the task she had undertaken. Seeing that she was struggling I walked over to her and asked her if she knew how to use a shovel. She looked at me with a snide grin and said “You are not funny. Just go back to your pressure cleaning.” So I walked away figuring she didn’t want my help.

After a couple more hours she was really struggling, covered with sweat, and obviously angry. Once again I walked over to her and said “Why don’t you let me show you how to use that shovel.” She said “seriously, if you don’t get away from me I am going to hit you over the head with this shovel.” Once again I walked away and figured you can’t teach a giraffe to water ski.

Later that night, my wife and I were having dinner, and she was complaining about how bad her back, hands, and feet, hurt from all the work she had done in the yard. I sympathized with her but explained she wouldn’t be in as much pain, if she would have used the proper form and techniques when digging. She looked at me with dismay and said “what?” I told her I had been trying to show her the proper way to use a shovel all day but she kept dismissing my attempts. She said she thought I was just being a smart @#$. (I guess I should let everyone know I do have a tendency of being that way from time to time.) She further stated, “who would have thought that you could use a shovel wrong?”

Of course by the end of dinner the whole thing was my fault, and I was the bad guy for not explaining that I wasn’t kidding, there really is a right way and a wrong way to use a shovel. I made up for my wicked ways by rubbing her back and feet and finishing the digging the next day.

The reason for this story is to illustrate the importance of training for your team. Just asking them if they need any help isn’t enough. To start with they may not think you are sincere, as my wife did in the above example. Secondly, they may be afraid to say they don’t know how to do something. Think about it, how many people would honestly say, “I don’t know how to use a shovel.” Sounds ridiculous, but in most cases people don’t know the correct way to use a shovel.

Training is one of the most important things you can do to promote the success of your team. You should always be training your team, from the newest member, to your most senior member. I have been doing this same job for most my life and I still don’t know everything, and I still enjoy training. There are many areas where I can expand my knowledge base, and even on subjects I think I’m pretty proficient in; I tend to learn something new. Then again, with my memory, maybe I just forgot it. Either way, it is good to refresh information you think you already know. I have always tried to act with the philosophy that I am training my replacement. I want to surround myself with the smartest and most driven people in the industry, and teach them how to move up the company’s corporate ladder, and eventually replace myself. Unfortunately, not everyone subscribes to this school of thought, and in fact many are afraid to give their team training for fear they will replace them. I believe that to be successful you need a team of people that want your job, and it is my responsibility to help them take it from me.

I hope you enjoyed the story and find value in its teaching.