Yesterday, a Sunday, we had a great hike through Capitol Reef National Park, and the group was feeling very happy, first when we reached the top of an 1100 foot climb at the Golden Throne, again when we had the joy of exploring a magnificent amphitheater below Hickman's Bridge, a third time when peering over the Goosenecks' Overlook at sunset, and finally sitting together at a long table in a charming half-timbered restaurant, toasting each other with tall ales.

I thought several times during the day about our individuality and group activities like this. We get along very well together, yet we are so different. I was reminded of a colleague's remarks about the harmony of the Mobile Agents team (he works on a related project and stayed in the hab last week to get to know us better). He said he liked our management style, which accepts the competence of each person and subgroup, recognizes the natural rhythm and timing of getting systems to work, and doesn't hold a whip over anyone.

Now, I wouldn't say I was a religious person, though I did attend a parochial school for seven years and went to church for seventeen, and in this I picked up a few key principles that I view as paramount for managers. I remember these principles as two rules, but they are actually two ways of stating a complex idea about individuals and groups, often called "the golden rule":

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Love your neighbor as yourself.

The first form of the golden rule emphasizes that we treat others as we would have them treat us. Personally, I dislike being told what to do, I cringe at almost any evaluative remark (unless it says that I'm great), and I like to be left alone to use my time as I view best. So that's how I think a group should be lead: Make sure everyone knows the objectives, develop coordinated plans, communicate, and respect the vagaries of mood, especially fatigue. Then just leave everyone alone. (My father's version of this, for managing his four sons, was MYOB, mind your own business.)

The second form of the golden rule is a bit more interesting because it says something about the nature of human consciousness, namely the nature of a healthy ego and empathy. Our ability to feel and respect (or enjoy) what another person is feeling is at the heart of collaboration. This requires a kind of projection into ourself of someone else's feeling. It means feeling good about what others might do or experience, even if the feat eludes us.

Recently I felt such empathy when I read a colleague's report about his first trip to Antarctica. I felt not only a bit of what it was like to be there, but was happy because he was so enthused. It buoyed my sense of what we were accomplishing in exploring and doing science in extreme environments. Sure, I'd like to go to Antarctica, but that didn't matter for the moment. Knowing more about another person's adventures and the identity he was developing gave me a positive feeling about life.

Empathy also means coping with another person's emotions, without letting them drag us down, too. This means not letting another's anger trigger our own and knowing when to be quiet, when to sooth, or when to just walk away. (Fortunately, such events are extremely rare in our project.)

Although children may need a great deal of corrective advice, scientists and engineers know when they have screwed up. The trick of managing a research project is not to reprimand, but to figure out how to know in advance when someone or a group is headed down the wrong path. As I wrote in my journal last week, learning how to communicate better is the key. For myself, that means in part knowing when and where to pay more attention.

Each year the Mobile Agents group learns better how to discipline itself, through documents, meetings, telecons, and schedules. This year, as before, I am writing down some rules about what we won't do the same way again and where our tools need to be improved (the whole point of being here). One of my favorite moments is discussing lessons learned with the group, so we develop our own rules for next time.