No “I” or Me in Team

 

 

No “I” in team

But a me if you jumble it up,

Whatever way you look at it

I or me still sucks.

 

Emphasis on the I

Is just as bad as the me,

Neither is good for team spirit

Since team always says we.

 

When will we get it:

Those immersed in the I?

Team doesn’t work well with one

However hard ones try.

 

 

Take a team of oxen

Under the same yoke,

If one of them should suddenly fall,

The other suffers a stroke.

 

Not literally so

But practically, I should add,

For the two being yoked together

Become essentially bad.

 

No “I” in team at all,

No “me” if you jumble it,

It’ll just be meat for all opposing:

Even for the misfit.

 

The notable I and me

Destroy teams from within

And anything that is salvaged

Goes to a her or him.

 

The only unit in a team

Is the very team itself

And all the narrow self-interest

Will ruin a team’s health.

 

 

So, no I or me in team

In no fashion, form or shape,

Any argument to the contrary

We should never take.

 

All together as one

To make a single unit,

Working for the common good

With a single remit.

 

Stewart Russell © October 25, 2024

 

Teamwork

 

 

Eight pieces of a puzzle,

Each one a different shape

But bringing their differences together

A working unit will make.

 

Teamwork is what it’s called:

A working together whole

And while one alone can do nothing

Together they plant the pole.

 

Ants are a good example

As they work around their queen,

The bees surely are no different

And work as a well oiled team.

 

 

There is no such thing really

As a one-man team,

That kind of thinking is a nightmare

Not even a happy dream.

 

Choosing people like yourself

To work together with you

Will at the end of the day achieve little

Even with a common view.

 

Teamwork is a pulling together

Minds of diverse thinking

But with a common purpose in view

Doing the essential linking.

 

 

Heads together and hand in hand

With passion as their heart,

Working steadfastly as one

With each one doing his part.

 

Cooperation is the key

And not an obsession with self,

The team is the end all and be all

And that to me is top-shelf.

 

Stewart Russell © August 15, 2021