How aware are you of your team members workloads, possible dilemmas or the stress that go with them? Many times at work we are only concerned with our own workloads and fail to see when others need a helping hand.
Oftentimes co-workers will not share with you that they are struggling and need some help as they feel that it may make them look bad. Cultivating a work environment where each person has the freedom to ask for help and there is the willing response from fellow team members is very healthy and also gives each person a sense of comradeship. I am reminded of that saying from the Three Musketeers “All for one and one for all.”
Workplaces that have this type of culture have employees that thrive and when employees thrive businesses do well. I found this teamwork parable that I would like to share with you in hopes that you too will want to create a workplace environment where co-workers willingly help one another. Read it, enjoy and learn, this is a good one to pass along.
Teamwork – A Parable
What’s a mouse got to do with teamwork? Here’s a very brief story about teamwork…
A little mouse living on a farm was looking through a crack in the wall one day and saw the farmer and his wife opening a package. The mouse was intrigued by what food the package may contain. He was aghast to discover that it was a mousetrap. The mouse ran to the farmyard warning everyone “there is a mouse trap in the house, there is a mouse trap in the house”.
The chicken raised his head and said “Mr.Mouse, I can tell you this trap is a grave concern to you, but it has no consequence to me and I cannot be bothered with it.”
The mouse turned to the pig, “I am so very sorry Mr.Mouse, but the trap is no concern of mine either.”
The mouse then turned to the bull. “Sounds like you have a problem, Mr.Mouse,” the bull said, “but not one that concerns me.”
The mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected that no one would help him or was concerned about his dilemma. He knew he had to face that trap on his own.
That night the sound of a trap catching its prey was heard throughout the house. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness she could not see that it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife.
The wife developed a bad fever and the farmer knew the best way to treat a fever was with chicken soup. He took his hatchet to the farmyard to get the soup’s main ingredient.
The wife got sicker and friends and neighbors came by to take turns sitting with her round the clock. The farmer knew he had to feed them, so he butchered the pig.
The farmer’s wife did not get better, however. In fact she died. So many friends and family came to her funeral that the farmer had to slaughter the bull to feed them all.
So – the next time you hear that one of your team-mates is facing a problem and think it does not concern or affect you, remember that when anyone of your team is in trouble, we are all at risk!
04/6/2021
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