Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Big goals are rarely accomplished by one person alone. That's why I'm grateful for Shelby County students and their positive energy. (Pictures by Ali Rittenhouse)

The country song “I Had Some Help” by Post Malone featuring Morgan Wallen was once a top stream on my playlist back in 2025. One line of the tune goes, “They say teamwork makes the dream work”. Now, if you know the song or listen to the rest of the lyrics, you’ll understand that line is actually about a relationship where teamwork clearly did not make the dream work. But for me, I recently borrowed the phrase for a different message: In school, in your career, and in life, the people you surround yourself with can make a huge difference in what you’re able to accomplish.

Chasing my own dream

Last Thursday I spoke at the Shelby County Fairgrounds in Sidney to two large groups of area students about Career Exploration. Before my official introduction to the kids, I was hidden behind a wall outside of the arena (granted, it was a livestock arena). Executive Director Carrie O’Leary from Workforce Partnership of Shelby County was the emcee and hyped my intro in rock star fashion. Mitch Rowlett from Dayton Mobile DJ next blasted “I Had Some Help” over the loudspeakers. On cue, I entered the arena and bounced around high-fiving any of the students that wanted to play along. It was a walkout that likely would have made Post Malone and Morgan Wallen jealous. And had my wife been in attendance, she would have been thoroughly embarrassed. Nevertheless, it got the students excited and that was my big goal!

After my lap was complete and I eventually caught my breath, it was time to speak. I stated my name was Craig, my nickname was Fish, and my occupation was a human resources manager. However, I further explained that my dream was to be a country music star called Fish that could pump up the crowd before a big show. Because of Carrie, Mitch, and all the students that indulged me, together their teamwork just made my dream work. I sincerely thanked them.

The show was just getting started and next I engaged the students further. One bold volunteer agreed to join me in front of the crowd with a friend. We played a simple game with three red solo cups. Underneath one cup was $20, another cup just $10, and another cup only $2. My volunteer didn’t know which cups held which cash amounts. I asked her to pick a cup and encouraged the rowdy crowd to shout their advice. That resulted in chaos and confusion. She fretted over her decision and hesitantly picked the middle cup. Before revealing the cash underneath, I gave her some information and stated that I knew the middle cup contained just $10. She was also given one final opportunity to change her decision with some advice from only her friend this time. In the end, together they decided to switch to a different cup and luckily picked the one with $20! Both girls were extra happy when I revealed the $20 was two ten dollar bills that they were able to split evenly.

The best decisions are sometimes made with a little help from the people who know you best.

What was the point of the cup game? I explained those cups represented our choices in school, our careers, and our lives. We’re out there every day trying to decide which cup to pick. Often times we get confusing advice from people we don't know, like on social media and in the news. The lesson of the game wasn’t that someone else will always know which cup to pick for us. It was that the people we surround ourselves with can help us make better decisions when we’re not sure which direction to go. Choose your friends and other influences carefully, because their advice can have a real impact on the choices you make and the opportunities you see. You don’t have to figure everything out on your own, and you certainly won’t make every decision perfectly. But if you surround yourself with people who genuinely want to see you succeed, you’ll have a much better team beside you as you chase whatever your own “dream” happens to be!

-Craig

Finding Purpose at Work

Let me begin with the disclaimer that the following point of view doesn’t necessarily reflect the view of my employer, but what better place for me to share some personal thoughts than a personal blog post!

Our group purpose was defining our purpose! 

I'll reference another "Coffee with Champions" discussion group that I attended back in April. The subject was “Finding Purpose at Work”. What stood out most to me was how differently the attendees defined their purpose. The most memorable comments came from a woman named Mallory who said her purpose at work and in life was the same: to get to Heaven. That meant helping herself, her husband, and her children get there. For Mallory, the connection between her work purpose and life purpose is found in the values of the construction company that she and her husband built. Because they established those values themselves, she knew they aligned with what she believes. She also made an interesting point: she may or may not be able to fulfill that same purpose working for another company, because she doesn’t know whether another company’s values would align with hers.

Mallory’s comments that day reminded me of the company I work for and one of our five values: “We Believe Our Work Serves a Higher Purpose.” At first, I thought that value was exactly what Mallory had described as her purpose. However, as I drove home from the meeting, I thought about how our company value guides me in my work as a Human Resources Manager and how I personally define purpose. I concluded that purpose, for me, means the work I do matters beyond the individual task. My work creates value for a higher purpose - to be an advocate for our employees. In that sense, it’s my purpose to help my coworkers live their best lives.

The two different views of Mallory and mine aren’t necessarily contradictory. In fact, I think they demonstrate why purpose is so personal. Purpose at work is shaped by our individual beliefs and by the values we choose to align ourselves with. What gives one person meaning may be different from what gives another person meaning. For both Mallory and me, purpose starts with our personal beliefs and extends into the choices we make at work. We believe the people and companies we surround ourselves with should support the things that matter most to us. That’s also why company values are important. Values are more than words on a website. They tell us what a company believes is important. When we interpret and live out our values with our purpose in mind, we create an environment of growth and success for all.

-Craig

Four Thousand Weeks

"Four Thousand Weeks:

Time Management for 

Mortals" is a popular book 

by Oliver Burkeman

4,000 weeks. That’s about the average life span. 4,000 weeks will put you at almost 77 years old. If it’s accurate I only have 1,150 weeks left! That doesn’t sound like very much time “to get everything done.” Or so I thought... 

I regularly meet with a group in Sidney each Wednesday for a discussion called "Coffee with Champions". Our topic is different every meeting and several months ago, one particular meeting, the topic was 4,000 weeks. We discussed just how valuable and limited our time truly is. We talked about choices, priorities, and relationships. Our work lives occupy a lot of those 4,000 weeks, so I chose to focus on my personal life here are some takeaways I found useful for me.

• A full schedule doesn’t equal a full life
• Choose activities that light you up, not ones that simply fill your calendar
• You don’t need more hours, you need more awareness
• Focusing on fewer things makes each one more impactful
• When you slow down, you notice what actually deserves your attention
• Your best moments happen when you’re fully in them, not rushing past them
• Productivity isn’t about doing more, it’s about being fully engaged in what you’re doing

How do I make that work for me? Recently, I traveled to Indianapolis with my wife for a concert. After reviewing those takeaways above, here are my BLUNDERS and BRIGHT SPOTS with how I handled one of my 4,000 weeks.

BLUNDER: Doing house chores in the morning before we departed. The chores could have waited. I now realize I was distracted with believing I was being productive. In reality, I was instead disengaged from the purpose of the day.

BLUNDER & BRIGHT SPOT: I considered scheduling additional activities for the afternoon. Fortunately I didn’t and we decided to simply walk the city. By focusing on fewer things, it made the concert much more impactful.

BRIGHT SPOT: We visited friends. My wife discovered friends were on the other side of downtown. Instead of making excuses about a mile-long walk, one of our best moments was seeing them for 45 minutes.

What did I learn? When we quit trying to cram more tasks into our day, we discover a better way to live! 

-Craig

One of our 4,000 weeks and it was a good one!