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| Perfect circle for meal time; built in Joshua Tree desert with Marin kids. |
I read about Steve Jobs and the cereal bar that was built at Pixar, and Ed Catmull's commitment to trying to eat lunch with every new employee.
Why brilliant?
Because after guiding thousands of people, ranging from juvenile delinquents to company CEO's, I have learned that Food is a fundamental building block in uniting a group.
Food.
Belonging.
Freedom.
Fun.
Power.
Love.
Belonging.
Freedom.
Fun.
Power.
Love.
If, as an instructor and team builder, you can find out how to meet these six needs of every member of your group, you will build a bond that feels as tightly knit as a family, and your group will enjoy spending time with each other and getting to that mountain or river or climbing up that rock wall together.
The link will feel, to some in the group, even spiritual.
The most important of these to start with, of course, is food.
This is an obvious one that a lot of new instructors undervalue.
"Let's just get going - grab some bagels and go."
If they haven't experienced the magic of making meal times count, they don't get it, and won't commit to it.
The course feels shallow and empty, and people start getting anxious to get home. Of course, they do.
We didn't do the work to lay the foundation to get them connected.
Sometimes it's as simple as how the food is presented. "Gourmet" on a 20-day trip in the backcountry can mean a Hershey's candy bar split between instructors, or macaroni and cheese with real cheese instead of powdered.
We make mealtime a major part of team building. Our team builds a cool kitchen out of what is around them - laying some rocks in a circle, or finding sheets of rock that can be used like warming plates.
We don't eat standing up, or scattered randomly around camp.
We hold hands first, in a circle. A moment of silence for the day, thanks to the chefs for cooking, and then we sit down and eat.
When I had my instructor training at the North Carolina Outward Bound School, my instructors, Pandora Judge and Keith Robinson, had us prepare an amazing dinner in the pouring rain.
It was lightening out, which can get pretty scetchy in the backcountry around the Appalachian Mountains.
Didn't matter. In full raingear - these rubber yellow suits that made us look like giant bananas - and under tarps we strung between trees, we made a gourmet meal for us and our group.
I remember the meal still. It was delicious.
We didn't just eat it, scattered around the campsite, we still sat in a circle.
The rain made us huddle a little closer together under that tarp to eat, and under the tarps to sleep.
Later in the trip, we got lost in the rain in the fog at 2 am. You know what?
We were singing goofy songs. We slept in some random dry spot on a cliff we found, totally different from where we set out. We had fun setting up the tarps.
Of course, we didn't use the excuse of not knowing where we were to not make our meals the same way. Those meal times allow for check-ins, and provided a solid foundation to get the other 5 needs met.
That was in 2005. I still feel a strong bond with those instructors. You know why?
My instructors had made one of the fundamental building blocks to building a true team count - breaking bread together.
1 comments:
Although I have had some psych classes I never really connected the dots the way you have here. As the camp cook and second in line within our hunting group I can see exactly what you are saying. In retrospect we developed lifelong bonds around our three squares a day. Thanks for adding structure to those thoughts and feelings we developed at chow time.
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