This week a video went viral of dozens of passengers in western Australia tilting a train to free a man trapped between the carriage and the platform during rush hour.
This video really highlights the power of partnership – there was no way that man would have been able to free himself without everyone getting involved. By working together, staff and commuters at Stirling station managed to lift the carriage after the man slipped and got his leg stuck. He was not badly hurt, and managed to even catch the next train.
In a world where many things are wrong and sometime issue seem too big to face, we need to look at this video. Imagine the train is the problem. What do we need to do to move it? A crane? A machine? Lots of time? No… just people! Individuals who are willing to push for a moment!
In order for our world to change and improve, if we are going to effectively make a difference, it will take an effort from all of us. It is almost an impossibility to do it alone!
Professionally, I often talk about working together as a team. ‘The power of partnerships’ is a daily phrase in my vocabulary. I use the analogy of a jigsaw and each of us being a piece. Often in collaborations, pieces are missing or go missing over time, this makes the puzzle harder to complete. Each individual has a role to play to create an effective team.
In life we often try and do it alone and do it our own way and sometime we do succeed, but I always question how much better could it have been if we had shared that idea and collaborated?
Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than the one where they sprang up. —Oliver Wendell Holmes
The problem is that collaboration is hard and can be dysfunctional and I admit it is easier sometimes to think ‘I’ll just do it myself!’
Contrary, I do believe in the power of one – sometimes we need to be alone to reflect, gather ideas and be innovative. But, the best ideas and strategies are then developed and delivered as a team and when all the team are ‘bought in’ and all ‘on board’ the ideas are maximised and flourish. I often use this quote from Helen Keller – ‘Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much’ or Bob the Builder ‘working together to get the job done!’
Collaboration is important not only to get the job done but for humankind – Charles Darwin once said; “It is the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.”
Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean. —Ryunosuke Satoro
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