Early Lessons on the Job Site
Read the story first: Early Lessons on the Job Site.
Standard Operating Procedure
Before beginning, take time to talk freely with one another, then come together in prayer asking for the Lord’s guidance, wisdom, and protection over this time and over each other.
Partner Exercise
You may choose to sit opposite each other or gather in a small circle as a group, and not everyone has to share—only those who feel comfortable. Think back to your childhood, between the ages of 5 and 10, and consider a time when expectations were placed on you. This does not have to match the story exactly, and it does not have to be painful or extreme. It can be something simple, like being expected to sweep the floor, mow the yard, complete homework, get good grades, or do a task a certain way. What matters is that you remember how it felt.
If you choose to share in the group, tell your story while others listen without interrupting. The group can learn from each other, but do not forsake the importance of sharing this one-on-one. Afterward, come together with your partner. Sit opposite each other, hold hands, close your eyes, and take a moment to focus. One person shares while the other listens, not for the details, but for the feelings behind the story. Then switch roles and repeat. The goal is to begin learning how to feel what the other person feels and to better understand each other.
Questions
In that moment, what did you believe would happen if you did not meet those expectations? How did you respond—did you become more focused, more anxious, more driven, or did you pull back? How did that experience make you feel at the time, and how do you think it shaped the way you handle responsibility or pressure today? Can you see how those early expectations may have formed part of your personality—how you work, how you relate to others, or how you respond when something needs to be done?
Mission
Consider the following scenario. You have a room that is approximately 20 feet long. On one end of the room is a table holding materials: white paper, red paper, brown paper, scissors, tape, a hole punch, an ink pen, and a box. On the opposite end of the room, there are four people assembling a finished product. One writes on white paper, one cuts shapes from red paper, one folds brown paper into squares and tapes it, and the final person assembles everything and places it into the box.
Your task is not to perform the work, but to explain how you would move materials from the supply table to the assembly team in the most efficient way possible. You may only move three pieces of paper at a time and only one tool or item at a time. The goal is speed and efficiency, judged by how quickly the assembly team can complete their work.
As a group, talk through how you would organize this. Who does what, how materials are staged, whether you anticipate needs or wait to be told, and how you reduce wasted movement. After discussing, have each person explain their approach and what they were thinking while solving the problem.
I encourage you to continue thinking about this and talking about it on your way home, reflecting on the stories you shared and the feelings behind them. Your personality may or may not be naturally focused on organization or completing tasks, and that will become evident. There is no right or wrong. Every personality is uniquely different. What we are learning is how each other feels, and when we understand how each other feels, we will be able to get along better. Our goal is not to change each other, but to understand each other.