by Nancy Linenkugel
Contributor
Our work team members leaned back in our chairs, held up the multi-page work product document, and air high-fived each other around the room. “We did it, everyone, despite some naysayers who were sure we wouldn’t or couldn’t. Congratulations. And thank you,” I said as the project leader.
We clapped. We clapped that this multi-month effort had finally come in for a landing. We clapped as we remembered special moments that wouldn’t be there if we all hadn’t gotten to know each other. And we clapped as we realized that the profound solution took time but we created it and teased it forth.
Spontaneously individual team members expressed their thoughts and thanks about the effort and what it was like getting to this point. Donna said, “We’re all like my dog.”
“Should we be glad about that?” a member asked.
“Oh, yes,” replied Donna. “And let me explain. My dog, an English bulldog, goes after whatever he really wants. There’s no stopping him. For example, he wants a treat and he knows where they’re kept. He goes to a lower kitchen cabinet, touches the door and keeps clicking his paw nails on the linoleum floor to get my attention. If I don’t come right away, he comes back to me no matter where I am in the house, nudging my leg and looking at me expectantly.”
“There’s no distracting him,” Donna continues, ”such as with his favorite toy. He’ll go along with that for maybe 10 seconds — and then he’s right back pestering to get the treat. So I think this is how we’ve all been throughout this project: focused on the prize. We all knew in our hearts why we were chosen and what our mission was. No distractions of any kind were going to impede us reaching our goal. So reminding me of my dog is a good thing.”
After smiles, chuckles, affirmative head nodding and appreciative “uh-huhs” from the group, I asked, “What’s your dog’s name?”
“Diesel!” (Laughs all around.) “Now keep in mind that my dog is an English bulldog, he’s low-to-the-ground, sturdy, and very efficient. He gets it done. Like we just did.” Donna laughed. And we laughed all the more.
[Sr. Nancy Linenkugel is a Sylvania Franciscan sister and chair of the department of Health Services Administration at Xavier University, Cincinnati Ohio.]