It’s Friday so this is a bit of a light hearted post, sharing a peek behind the curtain and into my life.
I have two sons who, without a doubt, are my proudest accomplishments. My younger son is a senior in high school and heading off to college in a year. This summer, he and has friends have been using my kitchen as a laboratory of sorts. Their goal is to master a recipe for the perfect glass of lemonade. This experiment has been ongoing for almost a month and each batch is getting better. I’ve been appointed “Chief Taste Tester,” a new title to add to my resume! (I’m also the one who mops the floor when they are done.)
Yesterday I was working from my home office, right above the kitchen and heard some quiet conversation below. I went downstairs and found four boys busy perfecting their craft. Each one had a job (washing, juicing, mixing, pouring) and the ongoing conversation had little to do with the task at hand, but instead was focused on the upcoming soccer game on TV. I could not identify a leader or boss. The scene reminded me of a well-rehearsed Broadway show. All the actors came together naturally with no missteps and nobody shouting orders.
These boys have known each other since kindergarten and have grown up together as friends. What do they have in common?
- To start with, lots of history, similar demographics, and years to build trust
- Strong family values
- There’s not a single female among their siblings
- None are the first-born.
Perhaps these similar attributes don’t have a thing to do with their ability to work together in such a natural way, but my guess is some, or maybe all of them play a role.
Now let’s redirect this post to the time and money organizations spend on team building exercises, employee engagement programs, leadership training and culture change.
Maybe instead, they should simply make lemonade.
The next time you want to engage your team, buy a few bags of lemons, some sugar, and step back. You have set up a powerful learning experiment in trust building and teamwork. The observations and conclusions may prove to be far more valuable than the ingredients purchased. Compare the results to my experience. How are they similar? How do they differ? What’s working fine? What’s not? Let me know how it goes, and don’t forget to send me your recipe.
Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. She is also the editor of the award winning TRUST INC. book series. In 2012 Barbara was named “One of 25 Women Changing the World” by Good Business International.
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Feel free to leave a comment or drop her a note at Barbara@trustacrossamerica.com
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