Those Who Can't Teach, Do

Okay, I'm dumb.
If the paraphrased George Bernard Shaw axiom, "Those who can't do, teach." is correct, maybe the inverse is also true.
I think I've wasted time, money and resources trying to educate a population which wasn't ready to learn.
I forgot a step taught in teaching circles for the effective transfer of knowledge.
1 I tell
2 I do
3 You do
I forgot that most people are monkeys who do what they see others doing.
If these monkeys never see something being done, they have nothing to imitate.
Regardless of whether what I was saying was true or not - I forgot to actually do something.

I thought I was being selfless by focusing on others.
It's what I wanted to do - but it is not what needed to be done.
What was needed was someone to actually lead by example.
If that meant that I should build a company from scratch, that's what needed to be done.

Working for fun or for free was a bad example.
I was practicing the beliefs from the middle-ages that if knowledge was a gift from God, it was unjust to charge for it.
I forgot that people see things which are free as worthless while things which are overpriced are seen as priceless.
And what is more beyond the price of rubies than knowledge?

In doing too much for others I robbed them of the character needed to survive when my help was no longer available.
In doing too much, I hindered the progress and efficiency of those I was trying to help.
Maybe being selfish is (in some situations) being selfless.