The Song Team - Team Building Blog

So, while we can’t truly live our lives in exactly the same fashion as the Amish, we CAN all aspire to work with our family, business colleagues and those in the community at large in the same efficient, resourceful, empathetic ways which are a hallmark of the Amish way of life. This is what makes the example of their barn-raising so compelling I believe. It’s an ideal.

We can also look at a wolf-pack and the way a pack’s “organizational sociology” works to make it a successful team out there in nature. One of the things we talk a great deal about in my workshops is how we can amplify our teammates strengths. In a wolf-pack, this is common practice. Next time…stay tuned.

So I’m wondering how many of you remember how great a movie Witness is? You know, the movie with a much younger Harrison Ford, who as a cop from Philly gets caught up in some corrupt chaos which sends the crooked police chief and his “team” out to get Harrison…who finds himself hiding among the Amish and then falling in love with the one and only Kelly McGillis? I’m sure some will disagree, but I guess it’s one of my old favorites. In particular, I always get the warm fuzzies when thinking about the sense of community and team that the Amish show, both in the movie and in real life. When I talk about writing a song for the purpose of team building, this is really what I’m talking about. Check out the video below for a refresher on the barn raising scene.

Could your office team raise a barn, without modern tools and machines in say a…week? A month? Maybe this is not a fair question as the Amish we always think of doing these activities are already skilled in these trades once they get to a certain spot in their lives. Okay, so to be more fair and make this more to scale. Do you think that in 2 days, without modern machinery, you and your office team could build a 10-14 tool shed in say….my back yard? 🙂 Think of the sense of rhythm we must acquire, the empathy we must have for one another, the knowledge of who does what the best in any given team situation, and then how are we able to amplify each others strengths? Next time you wonder if your team is working well…efficiently…contentedly, ask yourself if they could “raise a barn..” together. Whatever that barn may truly be.

So, two weeks ago today, I checked riding in an ambulance off of my bucket list. Working at home that day, around 3pm I had trouble breathing and after the profuse sweats began… I thought I was having a heart attack. Luckily for me, it was simply a kidney stone, coupled with a panic attack. But, at the time 911 sent that sweet ride over to my house within 5 minutes. Oh by the way, the fire truck was there first as is standard practice I suppose. They were all very nice, and worked well as a team together. I could tell these guys had been there before. We took the short road over to St. Thomas Hospital where I was handed off, IV, nose tubes and all to the cracker jack crew in their ER. The nurses and doctors were all so nice and efficient. Although, a few times I felt alone for too long in my room, mostly they were great. Two of the tech’s were in Nursing school, and they were doing a fantastic job helping me out, and calmly conversing with me – I could see they were going to be successful. One was a former mechanic, but he (Jeff was his name too) had apparently decided he’d rather help patch up broken people, rather than broken cars. The hand off’s between the nurses, attending doctor, and the various techs’ and specialists were done like a fine trapeze act. They had practiced and practiced, and understood each other, as well as what their clients (patients) needs were. Phew, in the meantime out at Dark Horse we have our first ever baby horse, a colt named NOAH who arrived in the middle of the night in a Thunderstorm about two weeks ago. We are all very excited. I’m also thrilled to be heading back to Indianapolis to work on two special events, one in August and another in late October or early November. The Musical Team-building sessions we’ll be working on are going to be a blast! Indy is becoming my home away from home! The album is moving a bit slower now, as all the studios are in full action with actual paying customers including one very high profile act who will be with us all summer working on their new album. But, as it turns out, this is a good thing because I realize I’m probably 2 songs short on the album and I’m trying to write 2, quality pieces that make sense thematically with with I’m trying to accomplish. Thrilled to have learned a new jazz progression from Scott Barrier the other day…hopefully that will help in the creative process. Wishing you all a fun and productive summer.