My 3-day leadership development program wrapped up today at noon. I decided to skip the final luncheon so that I could join my mechanical engineering team for their annual team-building event being held at the Nashoba Brook Ski Area. Good team building should provide an opportunity to build closer relationships, learn how to work more collaboratively and have fun. This year’s glider construction and flying competition hit the mark on all counts. The winning entry had a flight distance of almost 300 feet and a glide time of 10.7 seconds. Each glider was constructed from the same limited set of construction materials and had to carry a video camera payload (I can’t wait to see some nose cone footage).

The flying event concluded with a simultaneous launch of all ten gliders. Most impressive was the fact that all remained intact over the course of multiple runs, practice flights and crash landings. Debriefing of the exercise and consolidation of learning happened over beers in the ski lodge bringing a long work week to a very enjoyable conclusion.