I Miss The Power Of Teamwork

On November 26th NASA landed he robot “Insight” on Mars.  Read that again.  They put a robot on Mars. 

“Didn’t we do that back in the 70’s?”  you may be thinking.  Yes, we did.  We first landed a spacecraft successfully on Mars in 1976 with the Viking lander. 

Let’s be clear, just because that was done in 1976 in no way shape or form makes it easy to do now.  Only 40% of attempted landings have been successful.  This short video explains in very simple terms why landing on Mars is harder than the Moon and even Saturn’s Moon Titan. 

As they said during the livestream broadcast from NASA, it’s the equivalent of throwing a basketball from Los Angeles and getting it through a net in New York – and not hitting the rim. 

Insight so far is a success.  Here’s the first image taken after they took the lens cap off (apparently NASA has that problem too…)

 

That’s Mars.  Friggin’ Mars.

It boggles my mind what people can do when they put their minds and energy together. 

Those who know my story know that I went part time at my W2 job in October 2017.  I now only work 20 hours a week “for the man”, and spend the rest of my time doing my side hustles and getting reconnected with life. 

I’ve been doing temporary updates about my life after full time W2 work.  Watching the NASA landing live that day made me a bit sad, and prompted this post.

 

Insert Teamwork Cliche Here

I’ll be upfront and honest, a significant part of me misses the “group power” dynamic that a good job can provide.  Watching the Insight landing on NASA TV, I couldn’t help but wish a bit longingly for my days being part of a high-performing team.

Seeing those incredibly smart and talented people at JPL high-fiving each other and going crazy after they confirmed a successful landing on Mars brought back memories of when I was part of a super high-performing team. 

Check out the short video, you can’t help but be happy with them.  Their passion reflects the years of hard work to accomplish what they did.

 

 

Granted I was never part of a team that put a robot on another planet, but I surely did some cool stuff in my career.  Watching that made me realize I miss that kind of close teamwork.

Of course, I can’t just look back longingly on the parts of my career when things went well.  Those times were great for sure. 

But there were just as many times when I was part of a team that was mediocre, even dysfunctional.  And I had to work with quite a few lazy or incompetent people. 

I’d like to say I handled those times well, but it’s a mixed bag.  One of the things that I’m not too proud of is that I tended to focus on the people who didn’t pull their weight or do anything during those times. 

I should have ignored them and focused on my job, and just tried to be best I could be.  Granted those slackers created more work for me, but I inherently know it’s better to direct your energy to being a better version of yourself instead of being angry or resentful at others.

 

We’re All In This Together

I still work two or three days a week at my W2.  When I’m walking in the front doors on those days surrounded by other people dutifully showing up for yet another day, there’s still a mildly comforting feeling of “we’re all in this together”.   

There’s also the feeling that many people there have my back – and they do.  I’ve been at the same place for 23 years, I’d like to think I’ve made some close friendships and trusted relationships.

But I work for the government.  We make tons of mistakes, waste way more taxpayer money than we should, and aren’t up to date on the best technology. 

We always seem to be playing catch up with the private sector.  We’re kind of like the Bad News Bears. 

Yet there’s a certain camaraderie because everyone knows those things, but they still show up every day and do their best to make it better.  There’s an undeniable underdog spirit in the dutiful worker who keeps showing up and trying, knowing the bureaucracy will likely win, but fighting with everything they have nonetheless. 

And when you put that in a group dynamic it builds strong connections.  You look in your teammates eyes and see a weary-eyed backdrop that says “the struggle is real”.  Your backdrop says that too.

 

Strength In Numbers

When you’re struggling to fix things or solve problems with others, there’s comfort in numbers.  And I’m finding out that I miss that aspect of work.  I didn’t like managing people much, but I did like working with other high performing people on a common goal.

My blog and side hustles that now consume much of my freed up time are me, myself, and I.  It’s more lonely for sure, and also more daunting.  Failure will be mine and mine alone.  Not that failure will have real consequences, I’m financially independent and don’t really need the money.

But the driven part of me that wants them to be successful feels naked and out there.  With no teammates to lean on when things are hard, but also none to celebrate the victories with either. 

I do feel part of the personal finance blogger community and FINCON definitely had a lot of camaraderie.  But it’s still different.  In the end, everyone’s pretty much a solo-preneur in that context. 

Sure, we’re all working to help people get their finances in order and spread the FIRE movement.  But I don’t really see a “high-five” moment in that endeavor like in the NASA Insight landing above.  A moment when things come together and something is achieved through hard work and struggle. 

Maybe there will be, I don’t know.  But as I continue this early semi-retirement journey and peel back more layers of the onion, it keeps getting more complex.  I knew it wouldn’t be perfect.  But hey, at least I’m learning more about myself.

How About You AF Readers – Are you part of a strong team at your job and do you enjoy it?  If you’re retired or a freelancer, do you miss being on a team?