A tight knit team is a group of competent individuals who care deeply about each other and are fiercely committed to their mission. The members are highly motivated to combing their energy and expertise to achieve a common objective. From our observation and studies on team development, we have found three primary conditions that have to be met in order to attain higher levels of team performance and member satisfaction.

1. Resources and Commitment
   
2. Ownership and Heart
   
3. Learning

These three conditions are the heart and soul of team development and yet these conditions are not blueprints. Each developing team is unique, and its needs and details of teamwork have to be worked out separately. Let’s look closer at condition number three - Learning.
CONDITION NO. 3 - LEARNING

In order to harvest the enormous power of teamwork, one’s knowledge, skills and abilities have to be sharpened. This is required to support the values describe in “Condition No. 2 - Ownership.” (This is because values with skills will result in good intentions. But without the skills and behavior the values alone can not produce results. Likewise, nifty skills and techniques without the heart and soul of values will likely be perceived as manipulative and just another management ploy to trick people into giving more to the organization at the expense of its members.

How does a team learn best about teamwork? How to take back responsibility? What exactly is there to learn from experiences in teamwork? We have found that the principles of teamwork can best be explored by

Being one of the first Space Colonists is not going to be such an easy deal. It will take a group of people who really are into it and have complete control of their minds to stay tough with the dedication it will take to pull it off for a life long mission of that type. How will we know that those we invest in have the right stuff? One interesting Sci Fi book on this goes into some of the possibilities of a Mars Colony and the psychological issues, which arise. You may wish to read this book; “Return to Mars” by Ben Bova.

NASA has considered underwater colonies under the ocean to test the psyche of astronauts, perhaps for a couple of years. There was a group that was put into the Columbia University BiosSphere II for three years and they almost lasted 2-years, before the group dynamics, an injury and issues with the interior CO2 issues all ended up destroying that project. Now in the Australian Outback they are planning a 36-meter long space station simulation including a mobile explorer rover, laboratory, exercise-medical room, seven bedrooms and a cockpit area. This project will cost $1,500,000.00 and be called the “Mars OZ” research station. All these are decent attempts and ideas of what we must be thinking when practicing our space colony missions.

I propose a different type of colony in the artic ice cap on Earth to practice for an “ice house” colony on Mars, which would be nearly

I’ve gotten several questions recently about the legalities of starting a business. So, this week I thought I would address a few of the more common legal issues most new businesses face. But first, let’s get the mandatory legal disclaimer out of the way: the advice dispensed by this columnist is probably no better or worse than the advice dispensed by other columnists. Do not take the following advice as gospel or bet the future of your business on any advice given herein by said columnist.

Agreed? Good, let’s proceed.

To begin, here’s the best legal advice I can give you as a new business person: find yourself a good lawyer and make him or her your very best friend. Granted, your new best friend will charge you an hourly fee for chatting on the phone or talking business over lunch, but you’ll find it to be money well spent. A good attorney can save you far more than the cost of his services. I rarely make any decision that has the potential to impact my business without first consulting my attorney.

You can locate an attorney through legal referral services or just by opening the phone book, but the best way to find a really good attorney is to ask other business owners for references.

You want an attorney who specializes in business matters. A few of the things you may need legal help with are: legal business formation, articles of incorporation, trademarks and copyrights, investment documents, employee policies, etc. You may find