Why it's pointless to 'Teach a Man to Fish' #personaldevelopment#lifecoaching

For a Life Coach, the proverb: "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for life." is misleading advice. It's a bit elitist, actually. It suggests some poor dude in a state of total ignorance just waiting to be rescued by ... well someone.

Photo by Jacek Dylag on Unsplash

I grew up in a fishing port. I even went out on trawlers into the North Sea a couple of times as a teenager. I'm telling you, sugar, fishing is a complicated business, and boats aren't cheap.

So "teach a man to fish" It is full of all sorts of assumptions. 

For a start, it assumes that the man already lives in an environment in which fish are available but for reasons unexplained the poor man hasn't worked this out. Praise the Lord that we have come along to point this out to the poor under-educated fool!

Then, we have to assume that despite being in an environment in which fishing is a feasible way to overcome starvation, the man lives in a situation without any of the necessary resources to catch fish.

So he lives in a fish-abundant environment, but has no motivation to do so, doesn't know how to fish, nor has anyone around him who does, nor does he have a net, a boat, or a fishing rod. Until we, his glorious rescuer come along.

So maybe: "Teach a man to fish and provide the resources he will need." might be better. 

Because the alternative is a bit cruel really. 

How cold hearted would you have to be to take a hungry guy to the edge of the sea, point out to him that it is full of food, show him how to catch said food, then drive off with all the gear he needs to do so?

Similarly, how cruel would it be to park a state of the art vessel, full of technology, like fish-finder, radar, radio, outboard motor at his place, without any guidance on how to use any of this?

Or, as above, but knowing he has no way of getting fuel?

SO, 'Teach a man to fish, provide the resources, the technology, the access to fuel, communications infrastructure, crew and navigational skills he'll need" might be better?

So are there any takeaways from this for a life coach?

I'd say yes; namely:

• If you are going to provide advice, don't assume you invented the notion.
• Take the person's environment into account. 
• Don't make assumptions about their deficits.
• Provide the technologies they require to be able to realise any ideas promoted.
• Make sure your client knows how to use the technologies you provided.
• Don't assume that just because you know how to fish, that he's going to understand how to do it in a heartbeat.