For the past two weeks, I have experienced virtually countless reminders about the importance of “pulling together” when engaged in team work. A chorus of “heave ho” echoes in my ears. For when we don’t pull together, we often get stuck.

On January 19, we engaged the Georgia Tech Leadership Challenge Course for our 8th graders. Here is a short video clip of one segment in the team-oriented course:

When the students did not pull together, the cable pulleys got “tweaked” and the moving bridge would not move. To make forward progress, they had to pull together. To pull together, they had to communicate!

This week, a team of mine got stuck. Forward progress was halted. The left hand and the right hand did not know what each was doing. Both had good intentions. But now, we are temporarily stuck. We are struggling to regain momentum and progress. Strain on the muscles to overcome inertia is evident. The wheels are squeaking. If we had just communicated. We could have pulled together.

The 8th graders were wise to wear safety gear. A mistake could become a lesson from which to learn, but not a tragedy. I wonder if my team of educators had our safety gear securely and properly adorned. I guess we will discover the answer to that as we look for a mistake that becomes a lesson…or a tragedy.