Utilizing Human Adobe

Adobe is not just a computer application for reading .pdf files. It’s a building material. Most of us learned this some time between 2nd and 5th grade. We learned that people out west, including various native tribes and white settlers, made huts out of the earthen material.

A quick wiki search reveals that adobe is used all around the world. Humans, of course, prefer shelter from the elements to un-shelter from the elements, and, being resourceful, use whatever is available to create their shelter. We know that humans can and have done many impressive things in construction. Homo sapiens has become so good at building things that outside observers might be tempted to call us homo constructus. We’ve mastered many methods of constructing in the physical world, but I believe that we could use more practice refining our methods of building up our societal organizations, of building up individuals’ skills and confidence, and in education.

Progress is not simple, but great progress starts with simple steps founded on simple logic. I don’t believe that there is such a thing as common sense (we teach children many of the “common” things that they know), but I do believe in trying to keep things simple. Using comparative logic, let’s look at what it’s like to build in the physical world. If you asked someone to build you something, would you ask said constructor to use materials that he or she cannot acquire? Certainly not. Subsequently, would you expect the individual to use the materials available as well as possible? Certain-ly. Comparing structural practices of organizations, it seems that we use pillar mentality and pleas from authority (“trust me, I know what I’m doing”) to try to increase the functionality of our organizations and to teach. I propose an approach of asking ourselves “What materials are available?”, “How do they work best?”, and then using them accordingly. For example, if I’m working with a barbershop chorus and I find that a particular singer does something really well, like, let’s say, he’s good at singing lightly and freely at E4 (the E in the top space in tenor clef), I might say to him, “Hey, I’ve noticed you doing that really well in the past. This song needs more of that feel. Could you use a little more air support and sing that note louder? You could carry us in that song.”

Therefore, I suggest a protocol of finding the tool, figuring out how it works if necessary (in my hypothetical scenario, this would be encouraging the singer to feel good about his tool so that he keeps it), and then inviting him to use it well at the appropriate time. It really is quite simple. A chorus director can build a good sound by finding quality “material” and making use of it, tweaking the material when necessary. If we want to build up individuals, and build up organizations, we simply need to do like the members of our construction and home improvement community and use what we have and improve it over time.