The Lutheran invites other opinions and views on this topic. Please send yours by email for consideration.
On a balmy night last summer, I noticed our
Durham [N.C.] Bulls pitcher throwing high, and I sensed trouble. Sure
enough, six runs that inning and an early exit.
I
moaned knowingly when our shortstop took an extra step on the relay and
killed a double play. I explained to my son a left-handed hitter’s
advantage in bunting and forecast a hit-and-run.
It dawned on me that I know baseball. I know its rules, strategy and
lingo. Thanks, no doubt, to a father who spent many hours at Chicago’s
Wrigley Field. As for other sports, well, I’m still halfway lost while
watching soccer and utterly clueless in games like lacrosse. This is,
of course, a metaphor for modern life. I know a few things well, but as
technology advances, information pours in, and our economy and politics
go global, my field of cluelessness expands daily. I earn a living
using tools that I barely understand. I own equipment that I can’t
repair and employ people I rarely see.
And
yet life seems to work. How? Through collaboration. Other people fill
in my gaps. They do what I can’t. I return the favor. None of us needs
to know it all. It helps to have some expertise, but the critical
ingredient in any organization’s success is collaboration: people
working together.
The key to collaboration isn’t skill but a
desire to engage others, a willingness to share praise, humility of
attitude, transparency of motivation, respect and truth.
The rest of this article is only available to subscribers.
© 2013 Augsburg Fortress, Publishers
