Liberat.es
Being together better
I was talking with my colleage today about how it seems we do so well in our culture to prepare people for their careers. Indeed, we’ve basically turned our education system into a system to prepare people to do their jobs. University is primarily about gaining the skills necessary to be employed - as an engineer, a doctor, a lawyer, a software developer. Yet, we’ve missed something huge. We don’t do anything to prepare people to work together.
Interpersonal conflict, how we collaborate, what to do when someone’s emotions are getting the best of them, sharing our needs, supporting people in their pain, heck, in their needs. I could go on and on about the things we don’t get prepared for. I suppose many would say that that is the job of the parents, teaching kids to be good adults, but I think we’ve dropped teh ball on laying the necessary ground work htat makes it so the parents can teach that1.
It has me thinking about the ways that I’m not good at working together. What are the things that I could be focusing on in order to be a better partner, colleague, friend, brother, son, spouse? What are the ways that I let people down? And then, what are the ways that I can support a shift in our society so that we can all learn this a bit better. This is, in the long run, what’s at the heart of the work that I’m doing in the world. To be together better.