The Intern -

With the twenty-one-year-old, we assumed we’d have to explain everything: how to write a professional email, how to show up on time, how to ask for feedback. We gave him the “intern projects”—the spreadsheet cleaning, the meeting minutes, the low-stakes tasks.

It’s charming. But here’s the question I’ve been turning over in my mind: The Intern

The twenty-one-year-old wanted to understand our strategy. The fifty-three-year-old wanted to understand our software. Both asked better questions than most of our full-time staff. With the twenty-one-year-old, we assumed we’d have to

Not because they’re incapable. Because the territory changes faster than any of us admit. We’ve started pairing our interns—young and old, first-career and second-act. They teach each other. The twenty-one-year-old shows the fifty-three-year-old how to automate a report. The fifty-three-year-old shows the twenty-one-year-old how to run a meeting without an agenda descending into chaos. But here’s the question I’ve been turning over

The older intern struggled with the speed of things—the group chat that never sleeps, the three back-to-back Zoom calls, the unwritten rule that you answer emails at 9 PM. He needed someone to say, “Here’s how we work, not just what we work on.”

It works. Not because one is smarter. Because they’re both learners .