Often when teams work together they think they are working for the same ideal, when in reality their definitions of what's good or what's ideal may be very different.
For any group, the first priority should be to share their ideal, focus, and the good they are striving for. After that, it is important to look for the common threads that you can work in unison for. Where the ideals differ is the opportunity for the team to decide how they might support each other or even possibly work on their own to make that "good" happen.
In the education environment, ideals and good are often not defined and embraced by the team, and that dilutes what is possible. It is essential that education teams and teams in every discipline, organization, community, and even family, define what they are striving for together and what they are working for on their own.
Some of the greatest team fractures occur due to the fact that we project our own definitions of what is right and good on others without talking to those people about what is most important, valuable, and worth our time and effort.
I want to avoid fractions like this, and I believe that questions like this can help me to do that:
- What's most important in this situation, and what does that look like?
- How can I contribute to the common good?
- What should I do about the vision I have that differs from others--do I do it alone, find support elsewhere, abandon that, or something else?
- How can we maximize our collective capacity and mitigate our collective and personal challenges and struggles.