Team Work

America won World War II because it planned, implemented and focused. Teams were built. Communications were channeled successfully to those who needed to know. Teamwork was emphasized. Accomplishments happened.

Same with the space program: getting to the moon was not a singular effort. It was team all the way. And a large, complicated one at that.

Anything worth fighting for is worthy of great teamwork. Many hands make light the work. Many minds bring untold ideas to the table. Management talents that keep all this straight are worth their weight in gold.

And now comes COVID-19 and the fight to survive it.

Where is the team? Where is the leadership? Where is the national spirit that unites Americans?

Nowhere. Well, not totally. Medical personnel have come together in their teams to fight COVID hospital to hospital, community to community. Hospital managements have banded together to do the same. Some states built great teams to understand the threat, build defenses, and implement methods to stem the tide of infection, hospitalizations, and deaths from the disease. Along the way much was unknown, still is. Research and shared experiences have advanced how medical teams and hospitals could and did improve their handling of this awful challenge.

Governors of individual states also banded together. Those who listened, learned. Those who took action learned what worked and what didn’t. Together they shared this information among themselves and strengthened responses to the pandemic. Those states who were blessed with effective leadership have survived COVID well. They know not to rest on their laurels; no, they remain vigilant to respond to resurgence of the disease, and how best to dampen outbreaks. They are prepared to reinstitute shutdowns and public closures if needed. They are still on their war footing!

States without strong leaders avoided the hard work early on. Their states are now experiencing the results of that failed leadership. The southern tier of states are primarily the sufferers currently. With little discipline built early in the pandemic, they are now vulnerable to massive infection rates and increased probabilities of death among their fellow citizens.

Even states that took early precautions (California) are getting caught now with a surge of infections, probably because they prepared for the wrong strain of the disease. At least they have the discipline to reinstate tough measures to battle the disease.

Warm weather did not kill the virus. Extremely hot and arid climates didn’t do it either. That theory crumbled to dust quickly.

Good thoughts are nice. But action is better. Even when you don’t know what you are doing. It is the only way to learn the better how.

Illinois and New York are prime examples of leadership that answered the call. But where was the federal government in all of this?

July 18, 2020