Recognizing "the good old days" while you are in them

I've worked for over a dozen companies across more than 20 projects. Three team efforts stood out from the rest. Two of the projects had reunions or socials up to 20 years after the project peaked. One has a Facebook group. Another has an international mailing list. 

See the video below

None of the projects was easy.  They all involved conflict.  All involved more than 50 hours a week at peak. Some parts were pretty miserable. I wanted to quit and stare at the ocean. These special projects were all personal and professional learning experiences. They make all other employment just work now that I have forgotten the exhaustion and frustration. 

People go a lifetime without ever working with a group that has a reunion that draws people from hundreds of miles away. Most are shocked when I tell them I worked at two places where this happened. 

I made friends with people I would work with or recommend years later.  Almost everyone involved increased their skills and employment value. People still talk about what they learned or how they grew during those projects. All three projects achieved results greater than the sum of the team members' individual capabilities. 

We tried to recapture the magic from two of the projects.  Both efforts failed because we didn't understand what made them great, or we didn't have the same control to create the right environment.  

Identify these efforts, pay attention, and enjoy them without waiting for them to become a good old days memory. Pay attention and recognize the good times when you are in them, even if they eventually drive you to go do something else.

Video

 

References

• HBR 1993 The discipline of teams
• The frustrated Steve Jobs "good old days"