Climbing, Backpacking, or Trekking: Expedition Team Dynamics Start with the Prep Work

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I trust my kids.

Of course, they are kids; I don’t trust them to do everything, yet. They still make impulsive choices, sneaking sugar out of the pantry and the like. They are still learning how to navigate the world and social dynamics and even each other. One of my parental jobs, after all, is to prepare them to be fully functioning adults who are worthy of trust, and hopefully complete trust by a few key people in their lives. They are still growing into that.

But when it comes to being an expedition teammate, they have to earn that trust the same way any other expedition teammate would have to do. That doesn’t mean that I need them to be as functioning as adult teammates would be, but I need to be able to trust them to contribute to the team at the level of their capabilities.

And here in lies the trick: when we are talking about getting ready for an expedition, the capabilities we have at the start of that process should not be at the same level as when we set out on the expedition, itself. Just like any other teammate getting ready for something that is supposed to be challenging, the nature of the challenge lies in the ability to become ready for the expedition, not in already being ready. So, when we are just starting to prepare for the expedition, we aren’t talking about the boys’ capabilities to execute the expedition, we are talking about the boys’ capabilities to grow their other capabilities to the needed level of competence.

This is where training comes in. We are building our fitness and knowledge-based systems (e.g. does everyone know how to set up this tent in the dark?). And while it may seem dauting to plan a trip for which your entire team isn’t yet already capable, that is often the pathway to growth for those of us who “adventure.”

And the bonus of this line of thinking is that in the preparation lies the added benefit of creating a bond of trust that can be developed and strengthened even before the expedition begins. There is something magical about watching a person on whom you will rely grow in the abilities and the level of contribution they can bring to the team. Of course, that is accentuated when that person is your child, but I’ve experienced with adult teammates, as well.

If we have the benefit of being at least somewhat closely located to our expedition teammates (we all won’t be living in the same house with them), then we have an opportunity to get out and do the fitness work and system-mastery work, together. That shared experience, and the witnessing of each other’s work and the witnessing of each other’s increasing competence, can’t help but create a bond of increasing trust.

And beginning an expedition from a place of trust rather than having to develop it under the more stressful circumstances of the expedition, itself, can contribute a lot towards the ultimate success of the expedition.