Pokemon Go recently released a new version, where superpowered pokemon appear at certain locations and you can work together to defeat them. For the truly high powered ones, you have to have a team...if the team is at a fairly high level you might be able to take one down with as few as five, though it depends a great deal on the type of pokemon and just how much of a boss it is.
I was thinking about how difficult it was to know where to go, since the game only lets you see appearances 'nearby'. It sort of forces us to communicate with each other (I joined a Facebook group, where people regularly let everyone know when the most difficult Pokemon show up.)
Initially, I was wishing that Niantic allowed us to know what was going on throughout our entire city, rather than just the places we can see from our current location. Yet, in a way, if they did that it would defeat their intent. And it would make the game less fun.
See, their mission statement is this:
"Niantic’s mission is to use emerging technology to enrich our experiences as human beings in the physical world. We seek to build products that inspire movement, exploration, and face-to-face social interaction."
That face-to-face social interaction? It happens a LOT more when you have to work with each other to figure out where to go in the first place, as well as teaming up to take down a boss.
In a way, it reminded me of something else I've learned over the years. I read the book Band of Brothers a long time ago, part of my professional development as an Army officer. Anyways, I found it interesting that Herbert Sobel, hated by many in his company, in a way forced them to be a better team. I don't think it was deliberate, I generally don't think people being petty and vindictive are deliberately fostering a good team. Yet the soldiers basically had to come together in order to deal with him. To give each other warnings if he was in the area, or protect each other if Sobel was targeting them. (The link above shows some of the complexity of his character, he apparently was a good trainer, after all.)
In a more positive fashion - something similar was mentioned in another professional development assignment. Gates of Fire, about the Spartans at Thermopylae. I don't really know if it's accurate or not, but I remember that they chose to mix veterans with newer citizen-soldiers. That having veterans train newer citizen-soldiers helps both. The veterans don't get too complacent, since they know not everyone is experienced. And teaching someone else is a great way of making sure you know it, as well.
In a less military vein - the same thing can happen when we come together to protect the weakest among us. I have an uncle who is mentally handicapped, for example. And we all made the effort to make his 50th birthday special, in a way that we didn't do for any of my other aunts and uncles. Something so simple can mean the world to him, and his face lights up as he tries to tell people how excited he is (he doesn't speak very well, mostly tries to use sign language and will grab whichever relative knows what he's actually talking about to clarify.)
I remember standing at the site of one of the work camps in Germany, during World War II. Thinking about the urge for 'perfection'. To get rid of all the ugly, imperfect people. Disabled. Gay. Jewish. Once you go down that path, it's kind of hard to say where you draw the line. In addition to the ugliness and immorality of what the Nazis did, they also missed something important. Missed the way people can be at their greatest when they are working to protect and take care of those who are...
imperfect.
We have this sense that the 'best of the best' would be the most effective team. An all-star group of people who are experts in their field, and who know each other well and work together seamlessly. I won't say their wrong. There's something to be said for having an elite group of experts working together.
But our strength doesn't come from being perfect. In some ways, our imperfections actually create our strengths. Working together to weaken a hated officer, or to take care of someone less able, or to defeat a raid boss we have no hope of defeating on our own...
That's when people are at their best.
I was thinking about how difficult it was to know where to go, since the game only lets you see appearances 'nearby'. It sort of forces us to communicate with each other (I joined a Facebook group, where people regularly let everyone know when the most difficult Pokemon show up.)
Initially, I was wishing that Niantic allowed us to know what was going on throughout our entire city, rather than just the places we can see from our current location. Yet, in a way, if they did that it would defeat their intent. And it would make the game less fun.
See, their mission statement is this:
"Niantic’s mission is to use emerging technology to enrich our experiences as human beings in the physical world. We seek to build products that inspire movement, exploration, and face-to-face social interaction."
That face-to-face social interaction? It happens a LOT more when you have to work with each other to figure out where to go in the first place, as well as teaming up to take down a boss.
In a way, it reminded me of something else I've learned over the years. I read the book Band of Brothers a long time ago, part of my professional development as an Army officer. Anyways, I found it interesting that Herbert Sobel, hated by many in his company, in a way forced them to be a better team. I don't think it was deliberate, I generally don't think people being petty and vindictive are deliberately fostering a good team. Yet the soldiers basically had to come together in order to deal with him. To give each other warnings if he was in the area, or protect each other if Sobel was targeting them. (The link above shows some of the complexity of his character, he apparently was a good trainer, after all.)
In a more positive fashion - something similar was mentioned in another professional development assignment. Gates of Fire, about the Spartans at Thermopylae. I don't really know if it's accurate or not, but I remember that they chose to mix veterans with newer citizen-soldiers. That having veterans train newer citizen-soldiers helps both. The veterans don't get too complacent, since they know not everyone is experienced. And teaching someone else is a great way of making sure you know it, as well.
In a less military vein - the same thing can happen when we come together to protect the weakest among us. I have an uncle who is mentally handicapped, for example. And we all made the effort to make his 50th birthday special, in a way that we didn't do for any of my other aunts and uncles. Something so simple can mean the world to him, and his face lights up as he tries to tell people how excited he is (he doesn't speak very well, mostly tries to use sign language and will grab whichever relative knows what he's actually talking about to clarify.)
I remember standing at the site of one of the work camps in Germany, during World War II. Thinking about the urge for 'perfection'. To get rid of all the ugly, imperfect people. Disabled. Gay. Jewish. Once you go down that path, it's kind of hard to say where you draw the line. In addition to the ugliness and immorality of what the Nazis did, they also missed something important. Missed the way people can be at their greatest when they are working to protect and take care of those who are...
imperfect.
We have this sense that the 'best of the best' would be the most effective team. An all-star group of people who are experts in their field, and who know each other well and work together seamlessly. I won't say their wrong. There's something to be said for having an elite group of experts working together.
But our strength doesn't come from being perfect. In some ways, our imperfections actually create our strengths. Working together to weaken a hated officer, or to take care of someone less able, or to defeat a raid boss we have no hope of defeating on our own...
That's when people are at their best.
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