My grandfather was a gentleman farmer who supplemented his income as a licensed medical doctor. He cherished the time he spent prepping the fields for planting in the spring and harvest time in the fall. The main farm, Buena Vista, also had a peach orchard at the top of the hill on the back side. Grandpa bought a Caterpillar D2 bulldozer to maintain the road for the orchard along with using it in the river bottoms land when the other equipment would get stuck.
I remember times sitting next to him on that dozer as we plowed the fields, leveled the roads, and leveled the pony track (he also was a harness racer). While all of the other land has been sold, and the family really only has about 150 acres left, we still have that bulldozer. Last fall, my father and I were mowing down the “Back 40″ and Dad got his tractor & mower stuck a few times amongst the trees that have grown up over the past 30 years.
He began to look for a backhoe to excavate the trees, when I reminded him we still have that bulldozer. So we are getting it running again. It works great except that it will not turn left or right (forward and back, no problem). Mechanics have begun to repair it, with the hopes that we have it fully operational this Spring. There are fond memories of me with my Grandpa on the dozer, and now my daughter, nieces, and nephews will have similar memories with their Grandpa.
OK, you have the story (forgive the length) – here is my point. If we were to have the emotional attachment to strike out and create a life-long memory, won’t that go so far as to watch your teams work more closely? We unite as a team if we believe it is something worth fighting and we have an emotional attachment to it. This is what you must do to unite your organization – create that memory. Time in a hotel conference room is not going to be as powerful as jumping from an airplane with a parachute that was packed by one of your team members. Organize a relief trip to Haiti or Chile. Make it as outrageous/adventurous as possible – but also prepare to have a message to go along with the event. It will last forever and your teams will be as strong as ever. Get people out of their comfort zones and see how they really engage.
Finally, I have an honest offer if you are interested, and you are willing to travel to Southern Indiana (the farm is located 60 miles north of Louisville and 65 miles south of Indianapolis), come create a memory and put your team to the test by “logging” the farm (the trees are small,only about 5-10 inches in diameter). I promise one thing – everyone will get to drive the bulldozer and knock a few tress down, and you will learn the power of team and lasting impressions for years to come.
Chuck
I had Whayne Cat look up the serial number.
It was a 1953 D2 Caterpiller