Teamwork and Diversity

We do not all have the same background; we come from different ethnic, economic and social backgrounds. We have not all had the exact same experiences or education. We do not have the same interests, needs, and insights. When working together as a team, it is important to keep this in mind.

Everyone sees things differently and everyone has something to contribute. Imagine if we all saw things the same way. We’d keep doing the same things over and over because no one would think of anything new to do.

Think of this as you read the poem below. And when you work in teams throughout your education or career, think about the contributions each of us has to make to the team, our growth and development as a team and as individuals, and toward the team’s goals.

The Blind Men and the Elephant John Godfrey Saxe *

It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.

The first approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a WALL!"

The second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, "Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ‘tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a SPEAR."

The third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a SNAKE!"

The fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is might plain," quoth he:
"‘Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a TREE!"

The fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: "E’en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a FAN!"

The sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a ROPE!"

And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!

* Adapted from Organization Behavior - An Experiential Approach, by David A. Kolb, Irwin M. Rubin, and Joyce S. Osland