KickOff Retreat at the Pump House

Imagine setting up a tent with four other people you met only twelve hours ago.

Oh, and you've all been blindfolded.

This was one of several unique (to say the least) activities the AIA Emerging Leader's Class of 2013 participated in at our kick-off retreat at the Pump House in January, led by Dr. Peter DeLisle.  We arrived at the Pump House bright and early on a Saturday morning, and began with breakfast, coffee, and an interesting fact from each person that they wished to share with the group.  The morning and afternoon sessions were grandly titled “Connections and Communications” and “Leaders and What Makes Them Effective.”  What followed was a series of group activities in which the class examined leadership and teamwork in the microcosm of simple activities like group juggling or building the tallest possible Tinker-toy structure in 30 seconds or less.  The tasks we were given for each exercise were straightforward and uncomplicated, allowing us to observe truths about the way people work together and how leadership develops within a team without the distraction of the complications of day-to-day work.  Like a science experiment, by carefully controlling external circumstances (the parameters of the activity), we were able to study the resulting behaviors in isolation.

So what does this have to do with tents?  During the afternoon session (formal title: “Leaders and What Makes Them Effective”), we were split into groups of five or six, blindfolded, then told that our task lay before us.  Feeling around with our hands in the darkness, we found a bag with sticks and plastic-y cloth.  We quickly realized our skill levels varied tremendously, from the inexperienced (“How did you guys know it was a tent?”) to the expert (former Eagle Scout).  Those of us with experienced team members quickly learned to listen and take instructions, as the leaders of this task naturally emerged from among the sightless.  In my own group, the fastest way to accomplish this task was for team members to quickly communicate what they observed from their perspective, and then allow the leader to assess and instruct accordingly.  The simplicity of the activity allowed us to think critically about the process and reflect on what concepts might relate back to our day-to-day work.

As the day drew to an end, we gathered together to talk about what each person hoped to gain by attending the class.  As people shared their backgrounds, current projects, and goals for the next year, it became clear that the activities we'd engaged in throughout the day had served another purpose beyond conveying leadership concepts.  Those activities had transformed a group of strangers into a group that had learned to work together and begin to trust one another.  Although the Emerging Leader Program takes place over 9 months, the group meets together formally only once a month, in other words, only nine times.  Yet in those nine meetings, a class project must be selected, developed, coordinated, published, and executed.  Taking nine months to feel at ease working with the other members was not an option.  One crazy day of practice working out small challenges has us primed and ready for the big one to come.

Plus we learned a thing or two about tents.

 

Gwen Morgan, SHW Group