Friday, January 11, 2008
Team Building Addendum
Okay, so one last thing on this that I didn't think of until last night. The comment was made "we're doing all this team building because studies show that when you're friends with the people you work with, you work better." I didn't even realize the slippery slope of this until hours later. The core idea is that you work with people all the time, but you aren't friends with them for whatever reason. But, if we contrive a social setting, you are more apt to become friends with these people. I'm not sure why this bothers me so much, it's probably right in line with my dating philosophy. Thinking of any friends I have at work, the statement is true, you work better with people you are friends with. Nonetheless, no artificial situation would have perpetuated the process of me being friends with those people. Perhaps that works for some people, but it's much to akin to speed dating. How often have you met a couple that got married as a result of a speed daing session?
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1 comment:
Wallace-
I agree. We became friends because of a sense that we needed to know each other. We just thought so and then we did. Any contrived thing is just a contrived thing. It won't generate true friendships, or true love. It may cause one to have some greater compassion for someone else, if we feel they are worthy of such compassion from us. But true friendship? True love? No. Team building and learning how to work toward a common goal doesn't require friendship. It requires being willing to work together toward a common purpose. Team building can encourage that, but that's about it.
So sayeth, the portia-lot. But what the hell does she know?
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