FORUM for METEOROLOGICAL TRAINING EXPERIENCES...

Nice work!

very interesting presentation, thanks! it is so good to have a big team of colleques who eager to do something great! :))

i have found an interesting article about "Tutoring in interdisciplinary subjects" and think it is good for talking about interdisciplinary team work too

and a small fable in addition :)

Please do not take it close, it is not about great Argentine Team :))

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The Fable of the Elephant House

Once upon a time a planning group was formed to design a house for an elephant. On the committee were an architect, an interior designer, an engineer, a sociologist, and a psychologist. The elephant was highly educated too . . . but he was not on the committee.

The five professionals met and elected the architect as their chairman. His firm was paying the engineer’s salary, and the consulting fees of the other experts, which, of course, made him the natural leader of the group.

At their fourth meeting, they agreed it was time to get at the essentials of their problem. The architect asked just two things: “How much money can the elephant spend?” and “What does the site look like?”

The engineer said that precast concrete was the ideal material for elephant houses, especially as his firm had a new computer just begging for a stress problem to run.

The psychologist and the sociologist whispered together and then one of them said, “How many elephants are going to live in this house?”. It turned out that one elephant was a psychological problem but two or more were a sociological matter. The group finally agreed that though one elephant was buying the house, he might eventually marry and raise a family. Each consultant could, therefore, take a legitimate interest in the problem.

The interior designer asked, “What do elephants do when they’re at home?”

“They lean against things,” said the engineer. “We’ll need strong walls.”

“They eat a lot,” said the psychologist. “You’ll want a big dining room . . . and they like the color green.”

“As a sociological matter,” said the sociologist, “I can tell you that they mate standing up. You’ll need high ceilings.”

So they built the elephant a house. It had precast concrete walls, high ceilings, and a large dining area. It was painted green to remind him of the jungle. And it was completed for only 15% over the original estimate.

The elephant moved in. He always ate outdoors, so he used the dining room for a library . . . but it wasn’t very cozy.

He never leaned against anything, because he had lived in circus tents for years, and knew that walls fall down when you lean on them.

The girl he married hated green, and so did he. They were very urban elephants.

And the sociologist was wrong too. . . . they didn’t stand up. So the high ceilings merely produced echoes that greatly annoyed the elephants. They moved out in less than six months!

(Wheeler & Miller, 1970)