Article Smidge Teaches Teamwork
Has your team ever been involved in a project where a lot of effort, even with the best of intentions, falls well short of what is desired?
Well, many hands may make light work, but if each person is not contributing to the project in a complementary way, a lot of valuable time and effort can be wasted with not much to show for it.
So, your team has not only got to be effectively managed with the central task in mind; each member needs to be empowered and motivated to see the importance of their role in effecting the right outcome.
This practical article reveals just how easy keeping people motivated to solve problems with creative teamwork should be.
The solution to the problem was to entice it out.
One day, I saw a lady sitting on the nature strip over the road from my place beside a large slab of concrete that covered a drainage pit. Intrigued, I wandered over to find out what the problem was. I soon learnt that there was a little kitten trapped in a drain under this huge slab, and this kind lady wanted to save it. “Heavy rain is forecast for tomorrow,” she pleaded, “so we’ve got to get it out, or it will be washed away!” We both agreed that the logical solution to the problem was to entice it out with some food, so I raced home to get a crowbar to pry the slab off.
The problem got worse.
This done, the problem got worse because the cunning little kitten would only eat the food we left in the bottom of the waist-high pit if we moved right back out of sight; then it would duck back into the drain. While the lady and I were scratching our heads trying to figure out what to do next, we were joined by Monnie, the elderly woman across the street. All the while, the kitten’s pitiful cries could be heard from deep in the drain. We were soon joined by another of our neighbors, attracted by this unusual gathering, with yet another suggestion on how to entice this little creature out of its potential death trap.
By now, things were getting desperate.
Because we couldn’t all fit down the pit, as space was confined, we were forced to try all possible solutions. We temporarily blocked off the drain on the other side of the pit so the little kitten couldn’t run from one side to the other; we gently called in a soothing voice to entice him out, but nothing!
I climbed into the pit to try to see him in the drain, but it was too dark. We ran to and fro from our homes to make his food more enticing by changing it from tinned to fresh meat – but he wouldn’t buy it. We even doubled the helpings, and still nothing. In the end, we had to accept the fact that there was not much more we could do, hampered as we were by such a confined space. We’d been there for four hours now and had tried everything, all to no avail.
Sadly, our little friend would just have to be left to his fate. Then my neighbour Peter, an engineer specializing in troubleshooting industrial problems, pulled up across the road and wandered over.
“What’s the problem?” he inquired. When we explained our predicament, he saw the whole thing through a set of fresh eyes. In next to no time, he’d figured out a simple four-step solution to solve the problem and get the cat out of that drain. He then took control and outlined his plan. Immediately, we each had a specific task to do and felt empowered by its importance in saving this defenseless little creature. Our despondency now gone, we all felt motivated by Peter’s belief in the outcome and the role we had to play.
Our team leader took control.
“Forget trying to entice him out with food,” Peter said. “In this situation, that’s never going to work. Cats hate water, so we’re going to flush him out!” We watched in awe as our newly appointed team leader took control of this hitherto hopeless situation. He grabbed my crowbar and lifted a metal grate from another pit a little way up the hill and ran through what was going to happen.
Monnie was to connect her garden hose to the tap and bring the end over to him, then go back and man the tap. I was to stuff the pipe on the other side of the original pit with extra rags so the frightened kitten couldn’t run into it and get lost when the water came rushing down. The original lady was ready with a flat piece of tin, which she was to drop in front of the drain as the kitten was flushed out to stop it from running back. And the original lady was to throw my jacket over the frightened kitten once in the pit. My job then was to jump down and grab it.
All at the ready. With an “Okay, Monnie, turn it on!” Our well-briefed team went into action! The water rushed down the pipe; the traumatized kitten was flushed into the pit…
The piece of flat tin suddenly blocked its retreat; the jacket was thrown down onto the disoriented cat with me straight after it!
Within the span of four minutes, the hapless little kitten was out of danger, safely cradled in Monnie’s arms. All because we worked together as a team with our allocated tasks to get the job done!
And by the way, there was no way Monnie was going to let Smidge go after all of this, and he lived on to be an integral part of the family.
So good intentions and many willing hands don’t necessarily add up to good teamwork.
So when you think of successful outcomes for your team, have a clear picture of exactly what it is you want to achieve and the role each person will play in making this happen.
By empowering your team with a clear purpose and the true value of their contribution, you’ll keep them motivated until the job is done. And not only that, they’ll be left with a wonderful sense of achievement.
© Laurie Smale Inspirational Speaker, Speaking Coach, and Author
ARTICLE // Smidge Teaches Teamwork
By Laurie Smale, Author 🎤
Read the story of Smidge the kitten who was rescued from a drain by a team effort from several neighbours all guided by an effective team leader!
Read all the details at https://lauriesmale.com/blog/article-smidge-teaches-teamwork
All of my practical coaching wisdom is in my three books available at https://lauriesmale.com/books
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