It’s all about teamwork At last, however, they started quarrelling
amongst themselves, and each went off to the
L et’s take a trip down memory lane, more pasture alone in a separate corner of the field.
specifically Pakistan Studies. The motto of
Quaid-i-Azam Muha mmad Ali Jinnah was Then the lion attacked them one by one and
‘Unity, Faith and Discipline’. These three words killed all four of them. Initially the oxen were
articulated the guiding principles for this nation. able to keep the lion at bay by staying united
They are also the essential ingredients required but once they quarrelled and eventually parted
for any successful team. Think about it, if you ways, their end seemed inevitable. The moral of
intend to successfully accomplish any task or the story is that anything can be achieved when
project as a team whether it is in college or in individuals come together to work with a
the workplace there should be a unity of unified purpose in mind. The phrase ‘United we
purpose, faith in each other and the discipline stand, divided we fall’ is a derivative of this
required in executing the task together as a fable.
team. Most of the successful ventures were
Faith in each and every member of the group is
carried out by teams of individuals who exhibit
also crucial towards building successful teams.
these very characteristics.
A person trusts the members of the team only
During our lives we have all become a part of when he or she believes that they make an
many teams. Our family is a team; the effort to stick to their commitments and will not
community groups and the organisations we take undue advantage of one another even
belong to are teams; even at work, we are on a when the opportunity presents itself.
team. Even though some may view teams
Successful teams focus specifically on building
sceptically, because so many organisations treat
relationships to increase trust which develops
them cynically, teamwork has quite often
only through open and honest communication.
become a euphemism for organisational
In the team environment, trust builds as team
politics. But no matter how it is viewed, the
members experience the team's competency
general consensus is that it is definitely better
and integrity. When team members
than individualism. Remember the old adage
demonstrate those attributes, they prove
‘two heads are better than one’ that holds true
themselves trustworthy. In other words, the
even today and could easily have been ‘one
level of trust in their team members increases.
head is better than two’ if individualism yielded
better results than teamwork. Teamwork is more about cooperation than it is
about competition. This brings up an important
On the subject of unity of purpose there is a
point: teamwork can be taught. It means
fable by Aesop The four oxen and the lion. The
developing a disciplined work environment
story goes that a lion used to prowl about a
where the team members must conform to a
field in which four oxen used to dwell. Many a
specific set of rules. They will be measured and
time he tried to attack them; but whenever he
held accountable against these set of rules.
came near they turned their tails to one
Inevitably, it means giving up some work habits
another, so that whichever way he approached
and developing new ones. This can be painful,
them he was met by the horns of one of them.
yet necessary if teams ever intend on achieving
the desired results.
It is important to teach people or discipline
them to live and work together as a team as
opposed to working apart. Team members need
to be reminded from time to time about the
acceptable behaviour of working in a team.
Some behavioural practices that will help teams
run smoothly include being polite and
courteous in conversing with team members,
seeking opinions and input, sharing
responsibility, compromising in resolving
differences, employing creativity and
candidness, and accepting and delivering praise
and criticism.
To sum it up, in the words of Henry Ford,
“Coming together is a beginning, keeping
together is progress. Working together is
success.” Successful teams are therefore able to
group together with a unified purpose in mind,
put their faith and trust in each other and
execute the task successfully in a disciplined
manner. This is essentially what teamwork is all
about; it revolves around unity, faith and
discipline. ¦