Written by Sam Albert | DCD Craftsman
Some of my most inspiring life experiences have involved seeing NHL games in person. One time I was early and saw the 20-minute pre-game warmup. I was thrilled to be standing rink side as the players took the ice, catching all the action. I spotted one of my favorite players and couldn’t take my eyes off him, studying his skating technique and his powerful shots. I watched his focus and thought about how many hours it must have taken him to get to be that great. As time ticked off the clock, players began to skate off the ice and head back to the locker room. Well, most of them did. The buzzer went off and 2 players stayed. One was passing the puck to the other to set him up with the shot. Pass and shoot; pass and shoot; over and over.
My takeaway from watching that day was that those 5 minutes, shared by 2 players staying on the ice, made a real difference: 5 more minutes of experience; 5 more minutes to make mistakes they could recognize and correct; 5 more minutes to build trust; 5 more minutes they could build familiarity; and 5 more minutes to build the teamwork that wins games. It was no surprise to me who stayed on the ice until the Zamboni driver kicked them off. Those 2 players were leading the team in goals, assists, and points. Was it a coincidence? I think not.
I’ve seen that same commitment watching our co-workers at DCD. We don’t have an easy job, it’s hard work. However, I have seen my co-workers spend that few minutes, that make us the best: 5 minutes for a team lead to share their vision of the day’s plan on the job site; 5 minutes to organize things; 5 minutes to begin teaching someone something they don’t know; 5 minutes to elevate your game from good to great, from doing decent work to best work. I believe consistently investing 5 extra minutes can change you from knowing how something works to being an expert in how it works. That 5 minutes can change you from who you are today into who you can become. If we all give 100%, and 5 minutes, we can make Dancer Concrete Design into all it can become.
