Team Work: Achieving Even the Impossible

“The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.”
― Phil Jackson

I have often heard the saying that each one of us is a drop in the ocean called life and that this massive ocean is strong, wild and daunting only because of the billions of drops that it is made up of.  Each drop is as unique as a snowflake with its own crystalizing patterns, size and formation. This drop, on its own, might not be able to create a real change, but together they can swallow ships, break down rocks and even cut through mountains.

I recall once sitting with my three children, watching one of the many animated movies that they had forced me to sit and admire a million times before. This particular one about a fish lost at sea had a scene where, to my children’s horror, a shoal of fish was ‘ruthlessly’ trapped in a vast fishing net to be brought to a trawler. It was then that my youngest turned to me and assured me that the ‘little fish’ would get out of this mess. On been questioned how his simple answer was: “They’ll work together!”

Astounded at the simplicity of the entire episode, I continued to watch as the entire shoal worked together to swim towards the sea bed and finally break free from the trawler’s snare. What it taught me was that even in dire situations when things seem to be going downhill, with the right team work and by working together, one can always turn things around for the better. A learning that I hold dearly, even today, while facing challenges in the business world.

Therefore, what I gained from a children’s animated movie was a life lesson that no matter what together we can create a huge difference. Whether it be instant or in the long term, the path to the ideal (goal) can easily be traversed if we work together in unison and give in our best.

After all,

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much”
― Helen Keller