Elite Team

In 2005 I was able to go on a trip to New Orleans to do clean up in houses that had been struck by Hurricane Katrina. A group of just 10 of us were able to gut out houses every day for a week, one house per day and each day was a bit more than previously anticipated when it came to work. It was humid and the circumstances weren't great, but through perseverance the jobs were done and we accomplished out tasks for our group; there are still thousands of houses to work on.

Our team was very specific in what we had to do and the goal was simple. Clean out the house in a efficient amount of time and do a good job at it. We were to shovel out 3 feet of mud in each house to get to the floor and remove walls that were affected by mold and water damage. Which was pretty much every wall except the outside wall. We were able to measure the effects of the goal and make every goal a goal to keep. Not one house we were in left the same, all were completely changed and looks better than before.

As each member had their own personality and mindset, it was easy for one person to begin working on something else where the other team was not. Much time and power was wasted the first day because everyone wanted to do their own work and accomplishment. There wasn't a leader but a group meeting in what we should be doing. Each person was helping others team up on a room. Three to four in each room, and we saw much change take effect and the job was getting done much quicker than the first day. Muscle was saved and our way of thinking wasn't as stressed as before.

Yet, a realization had to come into play that we all had to be realistic in what we were doing. Some were hurt, some were fatigued, some were not motivated and we had to just accept the fact that we weren't going to do well each day but put our best in each moment we had together in the houses. The best part about character was that we all didn't get a long; we had to accept that