Cooperation Beats the Tug-of-War
It hadn’t moved an inch by the time the boss returned.
I’ve seen this scenario play out more often than I care to recollect. Well, not people trying to pull stumps around. Groups of people with a job to do going off in their own direction, in their own way and nothing getting done.
Cooperation, communication and compromise will move even the heaviest load when a group of people are willing to engage in all three. Had the lads above taken a few minutes to talk among themselves, reach consensus which direction to pull that stump and then cooperated to all pull in the same direction, there would have been some extra coin in their pockets. Happiness, instead of frustration.
Many years ago I took over leadership of an organization which was teetering on the edge of closure. Years of doing what didn’t work over and over again had contracted the resources severely. It was time to either turn the ship or scuttle it and not much time to get the momentum going.
I’d hand-picked the executive with an eye to people who would work together with a spirit of cooperation and unity. We didn’t always agree but we were able to stay at the table and come up with plans that put the organization first and our egos second.
Within weeks, the first signs of stability emerged. That stability grew over the next decade. It was never on financial easy street but the bills were paid, the doors were open and we engaged in upholding our mission statement: serving our veterans, their families and our community.
In the last few years as the group central to the financial rebirth either moved on, died or burned out they were replaced by people not as inclined to work toward the common goal of the mission statement. They have their own agendas and not always related to each other.
That spirit of cooperation has been replaced people trying to pull the place in different directions at the same time. With about the same result as the stump caper earlier.
It’s a ship adrift. I’m not sure where it’s headed. Time will tell.
Cooperation builds communities. Self-interests pulls them apart.
Until Next Time — Just Steem on
I COULDN'T AGREE MORE.
That's what sucks when everybody in the workplace tries to trump one another instead of helping each other accomplish the tasks at hand. It's frustrating, but it happens.
Perhaps people should be exposed to more team building activities to learn the value of cooperation and how far the team goes when everybody cooperates.
it's much like the old saying, Too many chiefs, not enough indians"
All order is in a state of decay from its inception. Without the revivifying force of creative chaos, it must always end in death and annihilation.
I've heard it said that for a man, he must comes to terms with the fact that all he builds must eventually meet destruction. It is the act of giving himself selflessly to creation that he must value. In some ways the feminine, has the joy of seeing life blossom from her own creation. The joy of seeing the child grow and bring more life into being. Through cooperation men can be a part of this well spring of life. There is a joy in this type of cooperation.
AMEN! Preach, sister, preach.
Between my experience with the Air Force Auxilliary and Non-Profit programs that I work with this is sadly true too often. I have noticed it in myself even, especially when I'm not getting input from others. The greatest flaw here I see is a breakdown in communication. Once that happens everything falls apart.
Cooperation builds communities. Self-interests pulls them apart.
So true, so very true.
Selfishness
Is it a situation of the replacements not wanting to work at all, or just working in too many directions? I've seen both happen. Hope you can find another good head to put on the spear!