I am not really likening anyone I work with to a child. But I do think of the groups I work with as children. That is because I work with small groups that are making transitions. Transition is hard for individuals as well as groups, but in groups the problem stems from getting more and varied people to adopt and adapt. With individuals the problem is patience and determination and with groups it is patience, determination, and coordination. Lots of juggling.

 

So in the juggling there also has to be introspection and self-evaluation, and that is usually the "one more thing" that causes transitional mayhem. Honest self-assessment is the core of any endeavor and usually a big failing point for both individuals and institutions. And this is why patience, that vantage wherein you always understand that people have a very hard time understanding what position they REALLY are in until they are no longer in it, serves best.

 

Patience leads to persistence, persistence can build to determination, and practiced determination often adapts coordination and coodinating tools more readily.

 

I have seen this played out in macro and micro scale situations and across large and small groups of varying homogeneity in terms of gender, "race" / culture.

 

The corolloray of this is that institutions that make transitions more easily and adaptively usually have better employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction as the opportunities for good information exchange / friendly and informative dialogue are ever present and faster for having been practiced isntead of imposed in some draconian or oblivious fashion.

 

really.