Teamwork

July 16

I am thankful for teamwork. Teamwork can sometimes be more difficult than just doing something yourself, but it has greater rewards and often leads to new insight. I believe strongly in the team approach to working together with people in and out of the work place. Leading a team of energetic, enthusiastic, and motivated employees was one of the most rewarding things I have done.

The photo is of my wife Bebe, my daughter Beth, our friend Anne Wolfe, and myself painting a series of doors which will be used to decorate a new coffee house at our church. Anne and Bebe's plan calls for hanging art on them and painting some of them with blackboard paint. The four of us had these things painted in no time at all because we worked as a team. If I had done it by myself it would have taken at least four times longer. I used a radio controlled shutter release (it's in my left hand) to trip the shutter on my camera, which was on a tripod. The photo isn't artsy or anything like that, but it illustrates my point, I think.

teamwork

we win as one

we lose as one

we are team

everybody has his part

everybody owns the dream

we are team

one body one heart

as with the body

each has a role

a hand

a foot

a head

together we are whole.

© rt tulley

The poem below deserves a little explanation. I was actually discussing teamwork with a high ranking manager at a differeent place than mine. He told me that he liked to use special teams for different tasks and then explained his idea of how his teams worked. The poem tells the rest.

what a  team!

my team

has its assignment in hand

they are to decide

what to purchase

which bid to land

to me

it doesn’t matter

what they choose

because i’ve made my mind up

so i can’t lose

when they pick

the right one by me

i’ll say they did a great job

their teamwork

was wonderful to see

but it they pick the wrong

i’ll have to jump right in

veto their choice

and sing my own song.

© rt tulley