In “real life” I work with a team that is geographically diverse. We are spread over the US and other parts of the world as well, so forming a team spirit is a challenge. Enter team-building as the solution!
My team meets on (approximately) a quarterly basis, for 3 days of intense strategy discussions, and “Death by PowerPoint.” But, the part of the week that really brings us together as a team are the extra curricular activities. Over the years, we have tried everything from golf to bowling, to dinners, to paintball melees. But last week, we were fortunate to have a really, really great team-building event: White-water rafting.
We were in the Boise, Idaho area, and last Thursday afternoon, trekked off into the surrounding mountains to visit the Cascade Raft & Kayak center on the Payette River, just outside of Boise.
We were torn between anticipation and trepidation, but 13 of us decided to go for it, and we were rewarded for our efforts!
Aesop teaches us, “in union, there is strength,” and we learned that lesson in spades on this trip. Two hours of Class III/IV rapids, and it was non-stop, adrenalin-pumping fun! We managed to lose a couple of rafters overboard, but they were swiftly recovered and we considered it part of the team building experience. In this photo, you can see yours truly (last man on the right side) in our raft, overloaded by one, as we had picked up a man overboard from another raft. Weighed down, we crashed our way through the next set of rapids, and I believe there was as much water in the boat as there was outside:
All in all, we had a great time, and I have to say, thanks very much to our guides, Ryan and Dustin, for steering us safely through!
Afterwards, we enjoyed a cold one on the banks of the Payette, and soaked in the experience. Life was good.
Joe Paterno said, “When a team outgrows individual performance and learns team confidence, excellence becomes a reality.” We learned this lesson many times over while rafting. In fact, we lived it!
If you happen to be in the Boise area, please do stop in to see the folks at Cascade. Tell them I sent you! You won’t get a discount or anything, but hey – you’ll be white-water rafting, so who cares?