In serviceable

So Friday was in service. In service is so mysterious that the school needed to send out an email explaining what it's about to parents. To students I can say it in a shorter form- it's team building, which when you're an adult you get to call team building professional development.

Let me go on briefly about team building. It's something that works really well with a group of people who have a common goal. One of the reasons ropes stuff is effective is that there's a discreet, clearly articulated goal that everyone understands and buys into.

The problem with doing in a professional development context is that everyone involved in most situations don't naturally have common goals. In a simple artificial construction you can simply dictate a goal. but when you're working within an organization that's a recipe for disaster. Consensus building requires its own set of team building activities. A goal imposed from above will feel arbitrary and won't achieve the buy-in necessary for success.

But here's the thing. It's pretty well known to most of my colleagues that I dislike the whole big meeting thing and that I find them useless. But I can't go on one day about how one should never be bored and then drone on about how bored I was during in service.

And I wasn't. That's the importance of being present. Whatever's going on, think about where you are and what you are doing. And be where you are and do what you're doing. Nobody at my table would have for a moment thought that I was disengaged in any way, because I wasn't. I discussed, I expressed opinions, offered suggestions, the whole deal. And yeah, I even complained about it. But all in the context of what we were doing. What's the point of being bored? Better to engage than sit there watching the clock.

What's alarming about this is how simple it is and yet how difficult it is for people. I need to think about this more.