234 INTERNALCOACHING
team was sent home with a small block of wood, two steel rods and a set of
four plastic wheels. After careful planning, cutting, shaping, sanding, paint-
ing, and assembly, the teams returned to the next meeting with a racecar.
The objective was to create a car that rolled down a sloped track faster
than all the other cars made from identical kits. The only variables were the
shape and size of the car, and the careful placement of the axles and wheels.
A winning car must minimize friction and resistance, and maximize effect of
the car ’s only power source—gravity.
As the coach of our two-person team, I made sure my son understood
the assignment and the challenges we would face in building our racecar. I
outlined our strategy and lined up the resources (tools) we needed. As the
coach, I had two options: I could dictate how the car would be built and do
the work myself, or I could provide an appropriate level of input and coach-
ing while my son did the work. Fortunately, I chose the latter option.
In my mind I pictured a sleek, Indy-style racecar. My son, however, pic-
tured a “racing van.” So we built a van. In retrospect, it was more like a blue
brick on wheels, but it was my son’s creation, and he was proud of it and felt
a great sense of accomplishment. It even rolled reasonably straight. So off to
the races we went.
As soon as we entered the race, two things became clear. First, our van
was in trouble racing against all the sleek Indy-style race cars. Second,
many of the other fathers took a much more hands-on approach to building
their cars. Several of the pine wood models looked like concept cars
from Detroit, with smooth, aerodynamic shapes and glistening lacquered
finishes.
The laws of physics were all too predictable. While our van had the other
cars beat in cargo space, it lacked considerably in speed and finished near
the end of the pack. Our first Pine Wood Derby experience was a failure.
Or was it? My son had the satisfaction of approaching a challenging as-
signment(a block of wood, two steel rods and four plastic wheels) and
emerging with a racing van. He had a structured learning experienceof using
woodworking tools for cutting and sanding, and techniques for painting. He
also experienced first-hand how to evaluate performance and resultsto de-
termine the best approach to future challenges. And these valuable lessons
were capped off with a pleasant surprise.
After all the speedy winners received their trophies, my son’s van was
chosen as winner of the design class. Thankfully, the judges recognized the
creative design capability of a seven-year-old over the advanced engineering
prowess of the parents. We still have that van on display, after all these
years, as a symbol of the lessons learned. I sometimes wonder what lessons