Cloning Yourself with Implicit Learning

You can delegate way more types of task than you would think. Especially, if your assistant implicitly learns.

We don't want them only following explicit instructions. We’ve got AI for that.

Your assistant should learn by watching the differences between their work and yours. Their email drafts and your emails sent.

They should understand and reflect on your decision making to get more aligned over time.

This process helps them improve on difficult-to-describe tasks. Some things have too many edge cases to fully explain. They are impossible to describe perfectly.

They can also help challenge your thinking on days when you’re running on fumes.

Let’s explore how implicit learning works and how you can set this up with your assistant.

What the heck is "Implicit Learning"?

Implicit learning is when people learn without explicit instructions. They take learning into their own hands. Overtime, this ability to work alone with less detailed instruction grows.

Think of some of the competent people you've worked with in the past. There's likely a lot of hidden learning happening for them in the background. They're learning from their experiences, pattern matching against good examples, etc.

This is implicit learning.

Examples of Implicit Learning for Executive Assistants:

• Email Drafting: Your assistant drafts an email in your tone and voice. Afterwards, you refine it or write your own, then send it. They review both versions to understand your adjustments.

• Document Preparation: Your assistant prepares a presentation based on previous decks. They compare their draft to your final version. The assistant should study for differences in outputs. But they should also study differences in situational context. Emails and CRM could be a good place to find this context.

• Meeting Preparation: Your assistant listens to your past meetings. They use the insights to craft agendas or prep materials. They adjust these based on your feedback. Maybe they even suggest some improvements based on higher level goals.

Why this matters

An assistant who embraces implicit learning becomes an invaluable asset. Here’s why this learning style is crucial:

• Reduces Your Workload. A good assistant needs less micromanagement. They learn to anticipate your needs, freeing you to focus on top tasks.

• Empowers Continuous Improvement. Implicit learning puts the responsibility of onboarding into the hands of the assistant. This cuts your mental load as the client.

• Efficiency Gains that are Hard to Predict. What type of impact could you imagine if you had a clone of yourself? Even if only deployed for a limited set of tasks, you could completely relieve yourself of those.

Implementing Implicit Learning

You need clear expectations and the right environment.

• Declare Your Intentions. Communicate that implicit learning is a valued skill. Explain how this will enhance their effectiveness in their role.

• Provide Time and Space. Make sure your assistant has enough time to compare their input with your final output. Make this a part of their job that they should dedicate time to. And don't just load them up with your estimate of 40 hours of task work. You're probably underestimating.

• Celebrate Efforts. Acknowledge and praise their proactive improvements. Positive reinforcement accelerates the learning curve.

Things to do today:

• Set explicit expectations. Give clear directions when needed. But, also encourage guesses and learning from results. They should be asking questions when they don't understand gaps of your work vs theirs.

• Give visibility. Your assistant should have access to past emails, meeting notes, and other resources. They need context. This will enable them to draw informed conclusions.

Encouraging implicit learning makes your assistant a key partner for the long term. Building an extension of yourself lightens your workload and increases your impact.

Remember, a successful client <> assistant partnership doesn't just involve assigning tasks. It's also about creating the right environment to enable their potential.

Happy cloning!