Kool Aid's Travelogue: LA to Castle Rock WA or What am I getting myself into??

[kool aid]

We had a huge problem at the Castle Rock Appleseed. Yes, I will freely admit that there was a short coming. 

Yes- I am sorry to report that we ran out of patches. That was the biggest hitch.

I will tell you all what I told the guys: I came up here with high expectations for this shoot. My brother instructors might have tried to caution me to not 'get my hopes up'. But I am an optimist.

I can say without reservation that my expectations were exceeded in every aspect of this shoot.

As has been said before, we got reenforcements early on, with Polar Bear and Mean Tree stepping up and inquiring about getting under the hat. I grinned. They received their hats with the usual RWVA pomp and circumstance  Then Fredness........ sweet fredness. So here is what we ended up: twenty six students and six instructors able to coach and work the line at any given stage. And this doesn't count whom ever was calling the line at the time.

That's better than five to one ration.

This is a recipe for wonderful things- We laughed and laughed at the thought of having our biggest problem was running out of patches and IIT hats.... We were a team, backing each other up and working like a well oiled machine.

So congratulations to all who shot rifleman scores. As many who have come before you will tell you, it is but a waypoint on a journey that will continue for the rest of your lives. I am always happy to be there when it happens. Time to roll up your sleeves and begin to teach.

To all who did not- Riflemen persist. Come on back, many of you were heartbreakingly close. This is often not the worst thing. Take it from someone who knows: It is so worth it, and having to work that much harder often makes for a sweeter experience when you eventually get there. Take heart. I know of what I speak from personal experience.

So- kudos to all. Wade and family: Thanks for opening your home to the greater good.

To Art and Science: I like the way your mind works. y'all can work with me any where any time.

Wheeler44 & son Vadar: Way to step up dudes! I am always comforted to have adult supervion.

And the cavalry? Wonderful work. Mean Tree, Fredness, and Polar Bear. Exellent work both with the shooters and calling the line. I am certain that your contributions were vital to the overall great outcome of the event.

Thanks-
Kool Aid out.....




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[Wade]

Well
Grass seed now planted (Thank you all that donated for Range cost's) so that perhaps at the next shoot there will not be so much dust (or mud) kicked up into Rifle's and maybe it will look abit nicer.

You know I should be writting about building the Range (Team Work) and such but darn it that Range has not heard a shot on it all day so I must remady that.


Wade out

[Fredness]

As has been said before, we got reenforcements early on, with Polar Bear and Mean Tree stepping up and inquiring about getting under the hat. I grinned. They received their hats with the usual RWVA pomp and circumstance  Then Fredness........ sweet fredness. So here is what we ended up: twenty six students and six instructors able to coach and work the line at any given stage. And this doesn't count whom ever was calling the line at the time.

Actually, I was asking "Golfer" and Fred about instructing back in Wenatchee...
If it wasn't for Jury Duty, I would have made Boot Camp too.  One of the few reasons I'd miss an Appleseed event.
Great to get back to calling the line, just need to polish up on my Appleseed version.
Good time had by all, now, where are those "Master Instructor" applications?

(P.S. "sweet fredness"?    )

[Fred]

     Can I step in for a sec, and say how good it makes one feel to read this thread?

     

When we did our post-mortem (what's the official Appleseed term?) after the weekend with Kool Aid, my biggest positive was
how we went from being four guys who barely knew each other to a really smooth team of seven (shoot boss, three new instructors
and three new IITs) by the end of the weekend.

I build teams for a living and this was almost magical - a common purpose, a willingness and energy to support each other, and a hell of a lot of hard work made it a great success (IMO).

    The official term is "AAR", but what we need more is a "Here's how WE did it - and how YOU can build your own team!" post.

     Lay it out, step by step, not overlooking whatever magic ingredients you sprinkled it to make it all come together.

    And we need it, yesterday. But if you need a few days to polish it and make it perfect, that's OK...

[Wade]

It's pretty simple Fred
A comen Goal ,,,It starts with 1 person willing to go that other mile to help his struggling brother thats trying there best to get that Rifleman score ( You are Your Brothers Keeper ) abit of coaching on the fireing line  with this you start to build a Team .
I Learned Alot from Scout from His Example,
Im pretty tired right now will write more later.
I think the rest of the Team should jump in on this ,,Wheeler44 Artandsciance Fredness Polar Bear Meantree Koolaid
Chime in Team

Bottom line,, a Lot of People go thure life Wondering If they made a differance  Appleseeder's don't have that Problem,,,,How much of a Differance do you Want to Make?


Wade

[funfaler]

Bottom line,, a Lot of People go thure life Wondering If they made a differance  Appleseeder's don't have that Problem,,,,How much of a Differance do you Want to Make?


Wade

Well said! (and well DONE)

With permission, I shall be repeating it often

[artandscience]

Some quick thoughts before I go feed the horses:

1) Teams can be built serendipitously (as ours was) or consciously.

To built one consciously, you need a few things I think:

    a) common goal/vision -- we got that
    b) shared experience -- for Wade, Wheeler44 and I that was the IBC, for MeanTree, PolarBear, and Fredness I    would say their military experience gave them that
    c) respect - gotta have mutual respect. we started there among the three instructors 'cause we had just gone
        through close to 24 hrs of instruction in two days. for the MT, PB, FN, I think they had an assumption of
        competence because of their backgrounds that they extended to us and to each other. We respected them
        both because of their service and their obvious shooting skills.

2) Teams need a goal/discipline to inform/guide their actions.

We had (1) safety, and (2) a goal of teaching basic rifle marksmanship. I think rotating calling the line,
watching each other's backs (that was a constant theme throughout the weekend), and asking for help when we
needed it was the additional glue that made the difference.

3) Teams need a good leader. Kool Aid was superlative. Not only did he relate to the shooters but he
related to us (I found myself calling him "brother" by the middle of the first day!). He kept us on track, drove
us when we needed it, consulted us and brought us into the process.

Really, it was textbook in my experience. To summarize:

- good, common training/drilling on essential things - shared by all instructors and IITs
- mutual respect between team members
- a good leader, espousing the vision, keeping team on track (and trusting us to do our parts), and being inclusive
  of our ideas (consulting us)

I would work (will work) with these guys again and I think a real key to doing this successfully elsewhere (you
guys hearing this?) will be to take a core of instructors who have worked together before to other Appleseeds.
Look for examples in both the American NFL and the British Premier League. Teams of refs work each match together,  being evaluated after each match for mistakes made and graded both individually and collectively (reinforces the team ethic so we stand/fall together). They do this for a reason and we should consider it. Stop matching folks up pot-luck and start getting core teams of instructors to attend an Appleseed and thus bring other instructors/IITs into the fold that way. Don't depend on happenstance to get us where we need to go.

If I wanted to "pollinate" our team ethic, I would take at least three (any three) of the six instructors and IITs that we had at this Appleseed to any other Appleseed in the nation and be quite sure that we would manage to duplicate
our success/team ethos (providing we had a good leader like Kool Aid or JB at the helm). I look forward to working
with them again as soon as possible.

The thing that we accomplished, I believe, is that we welded together a very solid and capable team in less than
two days. I don't know that that is at all unique at Appleseeds - Kool Aid would have to let us know as none of
us have been to many. As far as making a team goes, this was close to a unique experience for me in 25 years
of work though..

cheers,
Artandscience

ps. I'm sending this out unedited, so shout at me in a PM if you think I'm just off the rails please.

[MEANTREE]

I personally believe that Artandscience nailed most of this. I found a brotherhood sense in a group larger than two that I have not felt since leaving the Corps. In that environment you build the team because you have to rely on each other to fill the gaps that a single man cannot complete. It is the man to the left and right of you that makes you what you are when you face something that no single man can overcome. "No man is an island" I do not know who coined that phrase but it holds true when facing a goal that you need help with. The entire Appleseed experience (my first) felt like that sort of gathering of people. I felt as though I could ask for anything I needed from anyone there and it would be offered graciously. So it is this common goal and the realization that something has to be done to protect our place in this world from becomming something that we do not like that drives us at the Appleseed. When I learn the deeds of people who helped to form this place in the world into something I do like, it hardens my resolve further to spread the word and protect their work.

So as for the core group of instructors going from Appleseed to Appleseed spreading the word and pollenating other minds like ours, I agree wholeheartedly. Why start over everytime and leave everything to chance? I can speak for myself that I have every intention of becoming a Full Instructor as quickly as possible. Fredness and I have allready set the grounds for making it to the Yakima Appleseed in October. He expressed to me the desire to be a Master Instructor as he has most of the pedigree for it accept for the Appleseed specific requirements. In this, Appleseed can count on two more dedicated instructors coming up through the ranks as soon as we can get there.

If there was anything that Artandscience may have overlooked in building an Appleseed specific team, it would be gratitude and love. Gratitude to those who so long ago and ever since have done hard things and were willing to lose everything to provide a future for the one thing that all Appleseeders should love, the freedom to proclaim their love for this country.

[Wheeler44]

Lay it out, step by step, not overlooking whatever magic ingredients you sprinkled it to make it all come together.

Boy Howdy, talk about a tall order,

I am tryin' to lay out the physical step by step, this is how it was done in the relevant places on this board.  That's pretty simple.

What's not so simple is describing the magic ingredients, it's not like we mortals really had anything to do with it.  Let me explain.

TEAM NORTHWEST

Take three complete strangers, with as far as I can see, only one common factor, The Appleseed Project, and bring them together to help save the country by first saving their region.  So far so good, three folks with different backgrounds are gonna have a pretty broad set of skills, gifts and talents. The desire that each has to work for the good of the Project must've come from within or from above depending on your own point of view. I'm not qualified to talk on that so I'll just leave that to each individual to figure out.

The Characters,
We have a pretty interesting mix in the three of us.
Take one poor preachers son from Nevada, raised on faith and whatever rabbits he could shoot, one well educated European immigrant raised sittin' pretty near the lap of luxury and  one old bush rat raised up in a subsistence lifestyle in Alaska and it sounds like the beginning of a bad adventure movie. The personalities in that crew are extremely different yet seem to compliment each other well.

One of us is an independent long haul Truck Driver, one is a Project Manager for a VERY large and well known computer software company in the Seattle area and the other is a roofer/sheet metal worker that ended up working his way up into a sales and marketing position with a good sized metal roofing company. That mix brings a broad set of skills together in one place that you're not likely to find outside of a Family reunion. But unlike a family reunion we didn't get together for food and reminiscence, we got together for Appleseed.

The Personalities,
The Doer,
We have one in our group with a predominant personality type known as "get it done". Yep, he's a doer. Give him a problem and a pipe wrench and he'll set to work makin' that problem disappear, even if the problem is a very large pile of dirt. This personality type needs very little motivation. All he needs is a place to work and it's "Katy bar the door".
The Planner,
Another fellow in our group has a predominant personality type called "get it right.  This fellow is the guy with the list. He always lookin' at ways to make things a little better. Heck, sometimes he'll see ways to make things a lot better. He'll have a list of objectives, a list of assets, a schedule, a timeline with milestones, a backup plan, a tool kit, spare parts, first-aid, etc. He's the guy that anticipates pitfalls and tries to find acceptable "work arounds".
The Dreamer,
One of us is a dreamer. You'll find him under the Liberty tree munchin' an apple, watchin' the clouds pass overhead. His predominant personality type is known as "get along". He's a good communicator. He's a facilitator. He sees no obstacles, only opportunities. He tries hard to see things from as many points of view as possible, with a view towards acceptable compromise.   He helps the planner envision possibilities and the doer see possible solutions to the small problems that can't be fixed with a pipe wrench. He'll use his skills at negotiation for the good of the whole group.

In every group there will be a mix of the above personality types. The best way to use those talents is to let people be who they are. Don't expect the planner to move a mountain of dirt. If he ever gets it done it will be beautiful, if the glaciers of the next ice age haven't covered it over by then. Don't ask the dreamer to keep a list. It'll probably end up being Hai-ku and then he'll lose it anyway. The doer doesn't "have the time" to sit daydreaming or making a plan that's just gonna change tomorrow anyway.

We all have gifts and talents. We all share some of the traits of the others. We all get on each others nerves.
That we are all able to put our differences aside to work for the good of the Project says a lot for the Mission. Fred says " check your egos at the door" and for the most part we seem to be able to do that.

So if you are part of a team, try to identify your own gifts and talents. Understand that with each set of talents comes a set of weaknesses. Do your best to capitalize on the strengths and look for help overcoming the weaknesses. There is no shame in asking for help. What seems impossible for you may be easy for another. Just as what is easy for you may be impossible for another. Try to be understanding and humble.

The Mission is worthy. I believe that there must be some sort of divine intervention to bring three so different people, from such different backgrounds, together to work on a mission with such an abundance of gifts, talents and strengths.

When someone from outside the group is drawn close to see the group and they see the mix working well, they are encouraged to join. Thus the new IITs and the group of folks that want to be IIts. We had ten earn their Riflemans patch. We have ten that want to "join the group" of instructors. A good group attracts good people.

So how did WE do it? I don't think that WE did.

Wheeler44

[artandscience]

Well said my brother!!

So, you, Fredness, and me at Yakima in October. Perhaps Wheeler44 too. All we need is a shoot boss and we're rocking!

Artandscience

[kool aid]

Wise man once said (today, to me)

Breaths there a soul so dead it is not inspired by words......


If this is you, then the RWVA might not be for you......  The message of the RWVA us IN the words....