Or is their an illusion of teamwork?One way to to tell if you have an illusion happening is if your office/building is filled with fancy framed pictures of people climbing mountains, or sailing ships and the word “TEAMWORK” is prominently displayed on the pictures AND your teamwork training budget allows for a raft trip every three years.
Can an illusion work? Yes, but only for so long.
A man became lost while driving through the country. As he tried to read a map, he accidentally drove off the road into a ditch. Luckily he was not injured, but his car was stuck deep in the mud. So the man walked to a nearby farm to ask for help.
“Warwick can get you out of that ditch,” said the farmer, pointing to an old mule standing in a field. The man looked at the haggard mule, and then back at the farmer who stood there repeating, “Yep, old Warwick can do the job.”
The man decided he had nothing to lose. The two men and Warwick made their way back to the ditch.
The farmer hitched the mule to the car. With a snap of the reins he shouted, “Pull, Fred! Pull, Jack! Pull, Ted! Pull, Warwick!” And the mule pulled the car from the ditch with very little effort.
The man was amazed. He thanked the farmer, patted the mule, and asked, “Why did you call out all of those other names before you called Warwick?”
The farmer grinned and said, “Old Warwick is just about blind. As long as he believes he’s part of a team he doesn’t mind pulling.”
In this story, the illusion works because the horse (team member) is kept in the dark. In other words, the horse is lied to.
But illusions can be so much fun and amazing…
Fun and amazing illusions are best left to artists and magicians. Businesses (teams) that use illusion them will end up like Enron.
