I was at a park where I noticed a red convertible car balanced on a giant spring, a playground toy. In the car were two little girls, I’d say 4ish. One was rocking back and forth and the other was rocking forth and back. Basically they were rocking in opposite directions and rocking themselves into a sweat, but the car had very little movement going on. Every once in a while they would accidentally end up rocking together and the car would rock with them – YEA! Then they would get off sync again and be back to going nowhere. Eventually, one of the girls stopped rocking and let the other one do all the work. The car moved, but the one doing all the work got tired quickly and it wasn’t long before both girls exited the car for the swings (an individually controlled toy). The entire interaction took about 5 minutes. Note here that not once did I see them speak to each other. A classic case of actions speak louder than words?
It crossed my mind that the struggle these girls were
going through was much like teamwork, or lack thereof, in a real life
situation. I told my friend, “I just
saw my next blog,” and she chuckled.
Isn’t it a life like situation?
How many times have you tried to accomplish something
only to have someone else trying to accomplish the same task but in the totally
opposite way you are working on it, consequently, nothing gets done?
How about trying to help someone, getting nowhere, and
giving up to let them struggle on their own?
We even see giving up when the work gets too hard or
quitting when you realize you’re the only one doing any work. Hmm, yes this little scene can definitely be
transferred to a real life scenario.
I’m sure you noticed that I mentioned I never saw the
girls talk with each other. They may
have been total strangers, but I doubt it. I imagine they were at least friends, if not
sisters. Either way, I think maybe a
little communication would have greatly helped.
Don’t you?
Maybe, “Hey! You’re
not rocking right.” Or “Let’s both rock
the same way.” One could have said, “If
you don’t help me, I’m getting off” or “Quit trying to do it all
yourself.” There are many things that
could have been said. Although, they may have been observing the Golden Rule, If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.
To make a long story short - My point is, if you’re
working with another person – cooperation and communication are essential to make the effort a success.
