better together

One of my childhood games was a game involving singing, going around your peers and falling to your back while not looking in complete trust so your peers catch you. Sometimes you could cheat and look so that you do not fall and hurt yourself just incase you were not sure of the intentions of those catching you. Other times you could put one foot behind so you’re your weight is supported and not left to your peers. 

Ironically the beauty of the game was to completely let go without holding back. Your friends cheer and the game is at its best. The challenge is that you can only do that if you firstly trust the intentions of those in whose hands you will fall. Secondly, if you trust in the capability of those in whose hands you will fall.

Trust in this case would be very important in bringing the best in you as an individual for the joy of your peers. I find this very relevant in talking about collaboration in any form of teamwork at an individual or organization level. The two point are still important. Do they have a good intention? Do they have the capability? One is not helpful without the other in this case.

In his book the Speed of Trust, Covey makes a point that the lack of trust in any organization creates low speed and high costs. By stating that trust has two functions “Character and Competence” (Covey, 2006) I feel this relates to my childhood game that the peers I was relying on to hold my weight have the right intentions perceived or otherwise not to hurt me which is character. Secondly do they have the capability physically to hold my weight. This is competence. Trust in this case will save us money to reinvent the wheel and secondly time is saved as Covey puts it. But also betters the quality of the overall output. And in the case of the intentions of our game great joy to the group we are playing with.