Find your Balloon

Check out the story below – Can you think of a time that teamwork helped you accomplish something better or faster than trying on your own?

Once a manager had a team of around 40 people. Most of them were bright, enthusiastic, and hardworking young people.

He had a problem. Individually everyone on the team is excelling. But as a team, they are not good, which is crucial for the organization.

He then decided to solve this issue by planning a team outing.

Everyone came to the team outing. He invited everyone to a hall for a game consisting of 3 rounds.

For the first round, he told everyone to blow a balloon kept on the table and then write their name on it without bursting it. All the team members blew the balloon and wrote their names on it. Then he told everyone to wait outside for the next round.

After some time, he called them back to the room. Now there were more balloons scattered around without names in them.

He told them, you have 15 minutes to find the balloon with their name written on it. The first three persons to find their balloons will be winners.

If someone bursts, they will be disqualified.

Everyone started searching for their balloons, and after 15 minutes, he stopped the round as no one got their balloons. For the next round, he told them, if any team member finds a balloon with a name on it, he has to give the balloon to the person whose name was on it.

Everyone started searching, and within a couple of minutes, everyone had their balloon with their name on it.

The manager then said, “You see, in the 2nd round, no one was able to find their balloons as we were working on individual targets. But in the final round, within a couple of minutes, everyone had their balloon with them. That’s the power of teamwork and sharing”.

 

Moral of the story:

Most of the time, people hide information, avoid collaboration, and distance themselves from their team members.

This kind of mindset forms obstacles for team growth. And in the long run, it also affects the individual.

So, everyone in the team should share and care with team members for team success.