If you work in a team, then please read this story...

Power of Collaboration |

Once there was a Washer-man (a man who washes others clothes for hire) who was raising two donkeys. One he called Donkey-A and the other Donkey-B.

Donkey-A felt he was more energetic and could do better than the other donkey. He always tried to get the Washer-man’s attention by taking more of the load and walking as fast as he could in front of him.

Donkey-B was just a normal donkey. He tried as hard as he could, but he couldn’t carry as much as Donkey-A or impress the Washer-man by walking in front of him.

After a period of time the Washer-man began to put pressure on Donkey-B. But Donkey-B couldn’t meet his expectations. Eventually Donkey-B started getting punished.

As a result of the collapse, Donkey-A felt like he was on top of the world, having proved his superior skills and abilities. But now he also had to carry Donkey-B’s load.

For a short time Donkey-A was able to carry both loads, but he eventually became fatigued and weak. The Washer-man had no compassion on this once superior, but now tired donkey. He yelled and demanded more, but as hard as this donkey tried, he couldn’t come close to satisfying his demands.

Finally the day came when the Washer-man was tired of this fatigued and no good donkey. He killed him and went searching for some other donkeys.

Debrief

Worrying more about your own performance, taking all the credit and trying to do more than you are capable of doing eventually comes back and bites you one way or another. Be a team player!

As a leaders, you want a team full of superstars, but giving all the work to the superstar(s) eventually burns them out and creates low morale amongst the team.