This is a story from the play, Some Folks Feel the Rain; Others Just Get Wet; and it's worth sharing to shed some light on how people think about teamwork...

A man was lost while driving through the country. As he tried to reach for the map, he accidentally drove off the road into a ditch. Though he wasn't injured, his car was stuck deep in the mud. So the man walked to a nearby farm to ask for help.

"Warwick can get you out of that ditch," said the farmer, pointing to an old mule standing in a field. The man looked at the decrepit mule and looked at the farmer who just stood there repeating. "Yep, old Warwick can do the job."

The man figured he had nothing to lose. The two men and the mule made their way back to the ditch. The farmer hitched the mule to the car. With a snap of the reins, he shouted, "Pull, Fred! Pull, Jack! Pull, Ted! Pull, Warwick!" And the mule pulled that car right out of the ditch.

The man was amazed. He thanked the farmer, patted the mule, and asked, "Why did you call out all of those names before you called Warwick?"

The farmer grinned and said, "Old Warwick is just about blind. As long as he believes he's part of a team, he doesn't mind pulling."


Notes:

Fostering a spirit of teamwork is critical and its key element is trust. Trust for the leader and trust for each other.

"Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work." ~ Vince Lombardi.

"If a team is to reach its potential, each player must be willing to subordinate his personal goals to the good of the team." ~ Bud Wilkinson.

"No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it." ~ H.E. Luccock.