Team Energy Comes from Going to the Well
Team energy seems like an easy concept. Treat people with respect. Focus on the mission. People get paid.
In practice though, it may not always be so easy. Doing the same work repeatedly, the daily grind, conflict with coworkers and a boss who frequently changes his or her mind.
Historical Perspective
The older I get, the more I love history. I’m not a, remember the dates of major events kind of person. What I really enjoy is trying to get a deeper understanding of how people lived, what they endured, and their values and beliefs.
Just 125 years ago, there wasn’t cars. Sure, the first automobile may have may have had a patent from Carl Benz in 1885, but before the early 1900’s automobiles barely existed.
The same is true for many of our modern utilities. Things like septic systems, public water, and in rural areas even electricity wasn’t popular.
People often pumped water with a hand pump, or carried it from a nearby stream. Sometimes, getting to the source of this important human need you would have to, “dig deep.”
I live on an old farm estate. There is still an active hand pump on my porch.
Some of this seems hard to believe, but it is true. Families worked together. People helped people. When someone needed something, you would, “lend a hand.”
You didn’t write a check or start a GoFundMe page.
Times certainly have changed.
Team Energy
A little over a century ago someone would have to pump the water. People went to the well.
Still today in our jobs, even in the highest technology sectors, we have a chance to lend a hand.
Every day in our employee teams we have a chance to bring forward the energy. We all have the opportunity to dig deep.
Going to the well for everyone’s benefit makes sense.
The opposite is watching everything go down the drain.
-DEG
Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.
