It’s hard to come back to work after a weekend like the one we just had. But when the world feels stuck, I stay sane by focusing on a small, local sphere of influence. Today, I’m thinking a lot about the concept of a “mutual learning tour” and how we can use tours to better connect with and learn from others.
I’ve always been a big fan of tours. Museum tours with a guided “highlights reel” straight from a local curator. Interactive wine tasting tours or chocolate making tours. Office tours. Campus tours. Boat tours. The jungle cruise tour in Disney World. Sure, let’s even toss Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in there. (We all need a win today.)
One of things I like about tours (and tour guides, or hosts) is that anyone can do it, and it’s an infinitely scalable skill.
You can give a tour of your house, your company, your neighborhood, or your industry. You can visit a hyperlocal attraction, like The High Line in NYC and get a guided tour of the story, and the art along the path, or you can go online and get a virtual tour of all of the museum content in the Louvre in Paris.
There are three main reason that “tour energy” tends to be so good.
The attendees want to be there. This may sound obvious, but one of the main reasons that tours are fun is that generally people actually want to be there. You go on a tour because you are curious to learn about something, try something, or, in the case of something like a college campus tour, get a taste of something that you might be considering getting more interested in. It’s fun to go through this initial learning phase with friends.
It’s a lightweight, low-demand experience for an attendee. Typically speaking, there aren’t a ton of demands on the guest or attendee experience at a tour. The sort of implied code of respect is pretty basic: Show up, listen intently, and ask questions (if you want). You typically aren’t punished for not knowing something, nor are you tested or evaluated on what you take away after. It’s good, old-fashioned learning, just for fun.
It’s an appetizer course to an optional main menu of more to come. Let’s say you go on a tour of the historic district of lower Manhattan. Chances are, you’ll visit places like Fraunces Tavern (the unofficial headquarters of George Washington and many Founding Fathers) or Trinity Church (where Alexander Hamilton, among many other notable figureheads, is buried). If you get really excited about some of the U.S. historical stories told on that tour, you now have a “map” to deepen your own learning (for instance, by Google searching some of those buildings or landmarks to learn more).
Mutual Learning Tours
One of my favorite things about tours is the compounding or additive effect of mutual learning. Even if I’m the so-called host, I always walk away learning something new from people who attend.
If you want to learn something new, I think what you should do first is to offer to give someone else a tour of that thing. Even if you think you don’t know it really well, I’ve found that the act of literally walking other people through that experience will teach you a bit more too.
For instance, since I no longer work from an office where I can show people around, I now spend a lot of my “tour guide energy” at the photography museum called Fotografiska. During my workdays, I take frequent coffee meetings in their cafe, then invite my guest to come with me and walk through the photography on the floors above.
This gives me a chance to show off a cool building and some of the storied history there (read: it’s the building that wannabe-heiress Anna Delvey wanted to buy). And also, when they change up the photography exhibits, I get to both offer a tour and learn alongside someone new.
Last year, Fotografiska had an incredible photography compendium of American hip hop artists through the ages. When the show opened, I was relatively unfamiliar with hip hop beyond a surface level understanding of some headline artists. But after taking about 20 people through the exhibit with me, I learned which artists lit up my friends, and they introduced me to stories, dramatic moments of lore, and even songs and albums that have really enhanced my understanding of the topic.
Every time I gave a subsequent tour I tried to include a little bit of what I learned from others, to reinforce my own knowledge. That’s mutual learning.
Why Tours Matter
Tours are a massively under-rated and under-utilized learning concept.
Elective tours (like a dumpling food tour of Chinatown) help us understand the dynamics of being a host and a guest, normalizing learning in a non-threatening and fun way. They remind us how we learn.
Informative tours (like an office tour for summer interns) often precede significant changes and provide essential context. For instance, a recruiter might share crucial details about what they look for in resumes during an office tour. This will help an intern make a decision about where and how to apply for a job.
When things change quickly around me, I tend to find a “host” who can guide me into a new learning context. Whether it’s navigating the kindergarten application process or exploring new AI applications for my job, a tour is the first step.
We are moving in a direction where every single person is both a teacher and a learner, all the time. And I think tours are an essential first step toward getting us comfortable with that mindset.
