People Need to Know What the Eject Button is For

Yesterday, my son Eli said something so shocking I almost drove off the road. He is an extremely bright kid and hasn’t yet learned to be sarcastic, so I knew he was totally sincere in what he was asking. He pointed to the eject button next to the CD player in my truck and asked with complete sincerity, “Dad, if I push this eject button, will we be ejected from the truck?”  I looked at him in amazement. How could he think this was possible? We usually listen to the radio when we drive together, but everything is streamed these days, so he has no idea what a CD player is. When I asked him why he would ask such a crazy question, he responded in confusion, “But what else could the eject button be for?”

I am just finishing reading the classic book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It’s about a man taking a cross-country motorcycle trip with his young son and using it as an opportunity to teach about life and philosophy. Eli’s question convinced me I needed to turn off the radio and use this precious time to teach and bond with my son. 

Everyone today seems obsessed with “the great resignation,” but what they should be obsessing over is “the great onboarding.” Unfortunately, most companies are doing this very poorly. New employees are desperately looking for someone to show them how to succeed and how to avoid pitfalls. I recently visited a large manufacturing facility to interview its leadership team. Over one-third of their employees are brand new. One leader told me, “I just have to stop assuming people know how to do things. Most of my time really ought to be spent teaching the new folks.” So don’t assume. Ask questions and teach them what the eject button is for, or they may just push it to leave for a company that does.