Team Work

Team Work

2 mins
159


From the balcony of my first floor home, I have a street view. I get to see a bunch of kids playing in the evenings. It is such a treat to watch them play; it takes me back to my good old childhood days.


One day, I saw the children huddle around an ice-cream boy. The ice-cream boy is a favorite among the kids. He pays a weekly visit to the neighborhood. The children cannot ever wait to choose their flavors of ice-cream.


I saw Raghu, who is about eight years old, to be the first to place his order on that particular day. I was impressed by how well Raghu communicated his exact requirements. He knew exactly what flavor and what toppings and most importantly what combination he wanted. He got his ice-cream and moved aside.


Little while later it was Chetan’s turn. Chetan did not seem ready with the details. He looked a bit hesitant and pointed at a picture on the ice-cream vehicle. Whether the ice-cream boy understood it or not is another matter, he blindly prepared one and gave it to Chetan. Chetan’s expressions were a testimony to the fact that he wasn’t happy with the creation.


Seeing Chetan, his friend, Raghu enquired what the matter was. Immediately, I saw Raghu running towards the ice cream boy to fix the issue for Chetan. It was endearing to watch him ignore his own ice cream for his friend’s sake. 


An argument ensued between Raghu and the ice-cream boy. The ice-cream boy claimed he gave exactly what Chetan sought and he wouldn’t be able to give another cup of ice-cream now.


I assumed one of them would give up until I saw Chetan intervene saying; it was his mistake that he did not specify the details well. He apologized and asked the ice-cream boy if he could add a few toppings so it would be a win-win situation.


To everyone’s surprise as well to my surprise, the ice-cream not only agreed but happily made the ice-cream from scratch.

Once all the boys got their share of ice-cream they went about playing.


I pondered over what happened.


On the one hand, Raghu knew how to articulate his needs and deserved good results. On the contrary, even if the results were delayed, Chetan had his people skills to win hearts and get what he wanted. They were both special in their own way. What touched me the most, though, was the teamwork. At the end of the day, we are all stronger together.



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