Friday, May 24, 2013

Why You're Missing Out if You Don't Believe in Teamwork




Working with other people can be difficult.

Really difficult.

They don’t always have the same viewpoint as you and they certainly might not always agree with your plan of action. Many times, we believe we can work better by ourselves.

And though that may sometimes be true, it may also lead to us slamming our pinkies in the door jam.

200 years ago today, the Unites States and Britain, with Canada as the chopping block, were fighting the War of 1812. Britain/Canada started out well but by 1813 the cupcake was upside down.

American guns from Fort Niagara started wrecking havoc with British Fort George on May 25th 1813. To mount things up the American Lieutenant, Oliver Hazard Perry, who later won the Battle of Fort Erie, taking the Great Lakes away from British domination, brought in fourteen ships of varying sizes to increase American firepower.  The ships helped outgun the British.

The navy then worked with the American army to move 4000 troops over to the Canadian side on May 27th, 2013. The British/Canadian defenders had no option but to retreat to safer ground, losing one of their capitals of commerce to the invaders.

The thing is it wouldn’t have been possible without the American Navy working at first with Fort Niagara’s guns to overpower the British and then by supporting the American troops on the Canadian side.

Like the American navy and army at the Battle of Fort George, we must remember to work with the strong people closest us, the ones who have the skills to turn things to our advantage. We may not always like them but without their skills we wouldn’t be quite as effective. Sure the Americans might’ve beaten the British by shear force of numbers but they hadn’t to that point in the war (Detroit, Queenston Heights) nor did they later with battles like Lacolle Mill afterwards.

Combined skills, working with others, will cover weaknesses that even the most skilled find when working by themselves. We are powerful beings, not perfect beings. Working our strengths off others can win a battle or change our lives.

But only if we allow the magic of teamwork to flow.

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