Experience or Knowledge? Why a team matters -

My son is a computer engineering student in college. He's never made a B in any class (ever), and he's as smart as they come. Math, physics, problem solving, critical thinking, he has it all in generous amounts, especially for a 19 year old kid. When he was very young, I would play video games for him to watch (games he wasn't yet able to play), and we spent a lot of fun quality time together. It was astonishing that at 6, 7, and 8 years of age he was always so good at solving puzzles in the games. He would see patterns long before I could see them (I'm not really a gamer), and he helped me navigate the ins and outs of many different games. Now he's the game expert, and I stay away - I could never compete now!

Recently he came down from his bedroom and began gathering a few tools. He said he was going to borrow my drill, and he had a screwdriver in his hand. His bedroom door had begun to stick when closed - at the top right side - and he had done a little research online and found some things he could try with the hinges to solve the problem. It's a fairly basic engineering issue, and I'm always happy to see him trying to solve small problems on his own. In a past life, I did some carpentry work that involved doors, shutters, and other hinged things, so I have a bit of experience in that arena. I explained to him a trick I had used before to square up the shutters I would install. It's a simple process that involves bending a part of the hinge in order to tighten or loosen the gap on the opposite corner. My son is ABSOLUTELY smart enough to understand this simple "trick". He went up to his room and worked on the hinges. I heard the drill, some clattering around, and then the drill some more. Then he came back to the top of the stairs and asked me a clarifying question. In the end, I went up to help, and very quickly showed him exactly how to accomplish the task. He had an "aha" moment when he saw it in action.

You see, my 19 year old boy is actually quite a bit smarter than I am in many ways. He has deep knowledge in areas I've never even pursued. He will be a very successful engineer one day, and going all the way back to grade school he has had certain mental acuity superior to mine in different respects. What he doesn't have - is experience. He has more than enough knowledge for this little problem- but I have the knowledge AND the experience. I have seen this simple little feat of engineering work hundreds of times, albeit well over 20 years ago.

After we had our little father-son moment of fixing something together (always good), I got to thinking about work, business, and about how this applies in daily life. What I came up with was TEAM. Working with a team has always been desirable, but so often we try to rely on only ourselves, our knowledge, or our experience. In John C. Maxwell's classic "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership" (1998, 2007 Thomas Nelson publishing), the author talks about The Law of Victory - and in pursuing victory there is a "diversity of skills" needed on the team. Leaders and team members alike can have blind spots, knowledge gaps, or experience gaps. He admonishes the reader not to "overlook the importance of others on the team". (p.186)

In our business and/or personal life, are we leaning on knowledge AND experience? More importantly, are we leaning on others in our circle to bring to bear THEIR knowledge and experience. If we are fortunate enough to work with a skilled team (and I am), our success, the team's success, and the company's success will all be enhanced when we solve problems and win together.