People Experiences Applications
Team Solutions Florida
This is the most challenging page to create. Our programs are about the group, the participants - not the facilitators, not us. This isn’t humility. It is technique, part of the process for most of our sessions. Removing our influence, as much as possible, is an essential element to the success of our programs. The discoveries, successes, challenges, the outcome of the day have to be determined by the participants, it has to be their’s.
After programs, I go home with holes in my tongue from resisting the temptation to instruct or rescue the group, and I usually still think I talked too much.
The struggle - to shut up and let the process work -
is real.
I am Clay Goldstein, one of the two founders of Team Solutions Florida. When I moved to Southeast Florida and began visiting the Ropes/Challenge Courses, often associated with area universities, it was clear that Greg Affleck was the “guy,” the Dean of South Florida
ropes courses.
He has a gift. Greg is like that wise and soulful musician who can play any note and it will be the right note for the right time in the song - even if it’s the wrong note. Greg, who is humble to a fault, will ask the question that unlocks the conversation. We are very different people, but we share a sensibility, a working principle that today’s group is unique, deserving our full effort and attention - that every group deserves.
Greg Affleck built Florida International University's TRAC Ropes Course in the mid 1990’s and continues to manage and oversee the program.
While he builds, inspects, and designs Ropes/Challenge courses, it is the quality of the sessions that he facilitates, the creativity he puts into making every group impactful, that sets him apart from most.
Over 30 years of team building experience grew from an extensive adult and juvenile therapeutic background. Greg brings a wealth of life experience to his work, including past and present involvement with US Olympic Sailing and extensive group work with special needs and “at risk” students for the Dade County Public Schools System.
Greg’s greatest achievements are his daughter and son. His daughter is a
George Washington University graduate with honors. She is transitioning from working with a Hawaiian Senator to a position with the Irish Embassy in Washington DC (better beer). His son is in his junior year at UCF where he is majoring in Internet Security and plays tight end for the Football team. His son’s photo is somewhere in this web site…. a prize if you find it.
I was introduced to Ropes and Challenge Courses and experiential learning about 20 years ago at Tim Eberle's Leadership Ranch in Southwest Missouri. I got my foundational education from Tim. Through The Ranch I became part of one of the finest Challenge Course experiences one can have, the Missouri Children’s Burn Camp, with founding director and children’s author Linda Hansen, and Larry Conley,
a former Captain in the St. Louis Fire Department and cofounder of LDC “Glue,” a leadership empowerment organization. The camp has since expanded to be called the Midwest Children’s Burn Camp.
It’s a special place.
After relocating to Southeast Florida and meeting Greg, I drove further and got paid less to work with him at FIU as lead facilitator of the TRAC Ropes Course, located on the school’s Biscayne Bay Campus.
Ten years later COVID ended everything except virtual programs. In 2021 Florida Atlantic University recruited me, for the second time, this time to lead their Challenge Course into the post Covid era. In 2024 l resigned from FAU to focus on maximizing our work with Team Solutions Florida, return to my home with Greg at FIU, and contribute to other Challenge Courses and team focused experiential organizations.
Before discovering “team building,” I usually worked in teams anyway - first sports, then theater, finally Rock and Roll and Blues Bands. As a professional musician, Harmonica player I spent time in LA recording studios but my passion is always performing live. From bars to festivals, my most important shows so far were three transformational tours for the U.S. Military’s Armed Forces Entertainment with KC Guitarist Matt Ward. I still play with Blues and Rock and Roll bands throughout the region. I also use my BFA degree in Graphic Design, contributing to visual projects as time permits.
Team Solutions Florida recruits from a deep well of experienced facilitators in the region, depending on the size and specifics of each program. We partner with quality people who bring a variety of skills and expertise to each assignment and share our sensibility of making each program personal, experiential, and applicable to the goals and aspirations of the participants, the group who is working with us today.
Our process follows basic experiential learning principles. It’s not rocket science. While most of us are used to classroom styled lectures and instruction on “how to” - communicate better, resolve conflicts, bond with co-workers and be a leader, Team Solutions Florida lets the process work its magic. We focus on the people to drive the program. Then we choose initiatives, activities, experiences that match their aspirations and intended results. Everything is meant to create a safe environment where the group can discover how to translate these experiences and the insights they illuminate into applications that impact their work, their play, their team, the larger organization and themselves.
As facilitators, we are guides in the process.
Since every group has unique circumstances and requirements, a single pricing policy is not effective. Considerations that affect pricing include number of participants, travel time, location, and duration of the program.
Use the form below, email or call us to begin the conversation. Phone, Zoom or in-person discussion is usually the most effective option to zero in on the most appropriate program for you and your group.
Thanks for your consideration…
Suggested Resources
There are thousands of books on leadership, communication and topics around personal interaction and effectiveness. Here are three. You may not have been exposed to two of these books. The other is a classic, a pillar in the field. You can decide ….
“The Leader Who Is Hardly Known” - Self-less Teaching from the Chinese Tradition.”
by Dr. Steven Simpson -
This book uses Tao teachings to touch on concepts that speak directly to facilitators, educators, anyone looking to guide others through experiential programs of personal discovery.
The book consists of short vignettes that follow a theme, easy to pick up, read a few chapters as time allows, then return to it as time allows.
“Why We Do What We Do” by Edward Deci, postulates that three elements, used together, motivate people. They are:
* Autonomy - people want a say in the process to feel accomplished with the results.
* Competency - as they get better at the required skills, as they understand the project it becomes more satisfying.
* Community - people gravitate towards groups, large or small, that share … something. Goal, preferences, interests, a hometown …
We see these elements play out with most groups. Many books touch on these elements. This is one version that resonates.
“Emotional Intelligence” by Daniel Goleman would be on the Mount Rushmore of books in this genre.
If you haven’t looked inside the pages, it is highly recommended…
People Experiences Applications
All images are from actual programs. No stock photos.
