Give new team members experience, not instruction.
principle — attributed to Roger Nierenberg
When a new member or temporary replacement joins Nierenberg's orchestra, he gives them experience rather than instruction. He identifies the element of collaboration that will come most easily (tuning together, an ensemble passage, creating the sound) and designs a small exercise where the new member can succeed at collaborating. The success becomes a reference point. Remember how well we did that. Can we do that with this passage. The principle inverts standard onboarding, which front-loads instruction. Nierenberg's version produces a felt experience of working well together, which the new member can be reminded of when harder passages arrive.
For managers onboarding new team members, executive coaches working with new leaders, and learning designers thinking about how new participants enter ongoing groups. The principle is most useful as a corrective when onboarding has been informational rather than experiential.
onboarding, experience-over-instruction, new-members, success-modeling