Fourth Cohort, Session 1 · Mentoring Apprentices and Making Choices

Choices matter more than effort

Key insights

Choices matter more than effort。You can't teach a fool; genes determine their potential. Replace employment with a partnership model，Use revenue as an incentive and align interests. With adults, you can only choose, not change.

1.1 You can't teach a fool

Examples

• Scenario:
  • Hired a graphic designer
  • Lost their temper while teaching
  • The employee seemed eager to learn
  • But kept making excuses
  • They do what they know, but don't progress
  • What should you do?
• ＊＊Teacher's answer:
• "Replace them! Choosing the right person matters more than effort."

Why some people can't be taught

• Traits of a fool:
  • Bad genes (limited IQ ceiling)
  • Rigid thinking
  • Lack of inner drive
  • Simple-mindedness
  • Habitual laziness
  • Difficult to Change
• Reason:
  • Lack of motivation
  • No competitive pressure
  • No survival crisis
  • No shared stake
  • No matter how you teach them, they just won't learn

1.2 Choosing matters more than working hard

Two choices

• ❌ The wrong choice:
  • Choose an idiot
  • Teach them as hard as you can
  • Invest a great deal of time and energy
  • Hope to make an idiot smarter
  • Result: failure and frustration
• ✅ The right choice:
  • Choose smart people
  • Choose people who are quick to understand
  • Choose people with ambition
  • Choose people with good genes
  • Result: twice the results with half the effort

Genetic determinism

• People each have their own fate:
  • Genes determine one's potential
  • Some people are born smart
  • Some people are born stupid
  • Even beating them with a whip won't help
  • Accept this fact
• Lessons:
  • Don't try to change stupid people
  • With adults, all you can do is select
  • You can't educate them or change them
  • Choosing the right person is key

1.3 Replacing employment with partnerships

The problems with employment

• Employment:
  • Employees only care about take-home pay
  • Don't take the initiative to learn
  • Don't take the initiative to grow
  • Lack internal drive
  • Just coast along
• Reason:
  • Doing more or less makes no difference
  • No shared stake
  • Lack ownership
  • An employee mindset

Advantages of the partnership model

• Partnership model:
  • Revenue incentives
  • Profit-sharing mechanism
  • Aligning interests
  • Build a business together
  • Highly proactive
• How to:
  • Tell them they're not an employee, but a partner
  • Revenue sharing (50%, 20%, 10%)
  • If they learn well, they'll have a stake in the store
  • Become a store manager
  • Financial incentives

1.4 Programming-style training

Step-by-step

• Training an apprentice = programming
• Step 1: Define the goal
  • What to do first
  • What to do second
  • What to do third
  • A clear path
• Step 2: Set rewards
  • What do you get for completing the first step
  • What do you get for completing the second step
  • What do you get after completing step three?
  • Get immediate feedback
• Step 3: Ongoing training
  • Practice repeatedly
  • Practice makes perfect
  • Until you master it
  • Build a habit

Key principles

1. Choose smart people

• Don't try to teach idiots

1. Aligning interests

• Partnership, not employment

1. Programming-style training

• Clear steps, clear rewards

1. Hands-off management

• Set goals, provide resources, offer rewards
• Let them do it themselves

Key quotes

• "Choosing the right people matters more than effort. If an idiot can't be taught, replace them."
• "People have their own fate; genes determine their potential."
• "Adults can only be screened, not changed."
• "Replace employment with partnership, and incentivize based on revenue."
• "Training an apprentice is like programming: clear steps, clear rewards."
• "Idiots choose laziness; smart people choose hard work."

Practical application

Evaluate employees

1. Are they smart? How quick are they to learn?
2. Are they ambitious? How strong is their inner drive?
3. Are they worth developing? Or should you replace them?

Change the system

1. Switch from employment to partnership
2. Set up revenue sharing
3. Clarify the path to promotion
4. Give them ownership

Programming-style development

1. Break it down into steps
2. Set rewards
3. Repeat the training
4. Get immediate feedback

Practice checklist

• ☐ Assess current employees: worth developing or better to replace?
• ☐ Design a partnership plan
• ☐ Develop a revenue-sharing mechanism
• ☐ Break down the training steps programmatically
• ☐ Set up a clear reward system