Coaches Corner

The Value of Keeping Your Mouth Shut

The team trooped into my kitchen, dropped their backpacks in a heap in the corner, and began their meeting with a snack (I think their basic life philosophy was: do nothing important without eating first!). They had picked their problem and were going to decide on a theme. I had spent the intervening week thinking about what I would choose if I were on the team. And boy, did I come up with some good ones! The energy crisis, curing a disease, saving natural resources…any of them would have fit right in.

Imagine my dismay when one of the team members picked up a piece of popcorn, stared at it, and announced "Popcorn! Our theme should be popcorn!" All those great and important subjects, and they pick popcorn?! I knew I couldn't say anything to the team, so with great effort I just nodded my head. I was so sad for them, because I knew this was going to be a disaster.

They, however, knew no such thing. They had all bought into the wackiness of the idea, and threw themselves into the solution. Even the kids who normally had a hard time meeting deadlines were suddenly on top of things. And if I had somehow managed to steer the team around to my way of thinking, they would have missed out on the great experience they had working as a team, challenging each other to come up with wilder and crazier popcorn ideas.

And they probably wouldn't have brought home Third Place medals from World Finals.

 

TESTIMONIALS

"It teaches kids to work as a team and that hard work and creativity will get you anywhere!"

- Team Member, Middle School