Schools of fish swim together, packs of wolves hunt together, flocks of geese migrate together. Armies of ants can build whole civilisations underground, gathering food for all to eat. Prides of lions can take down full grown elephants if they so wish, and herds of elephants can fend off any lion attacks that so dare to challenge them.
But perhaps these are just survival instincts engraved in their DNA. It’s not like these animals share a language with each other granting them the ability to organise positions and roles, and if they can’t communicate, can one truly say they are team working? Perhaps they share a growl, a snarl, but in no way can a geese squawking be classified at the same level as human communication.
Even so, isn’t teamwork the cooperation of a group of like-minded individuals, working together to achieve a common goal? So can one truly say a herd of elephants working towards the same goal, to survive, is not an example of teamwork?
Consider for a moment the oxpecker. About the length of a fork, the weight of a light bulb. It’s best friend? The oxen, an animal almost 20,000 times its own body weight.
Again, not a single squeak or growl is shared among them, let alone a common language. Still, everyday they carry out their meet.
The oxpecker cleans out the wounds of the oxen, feeding off the parasites trying to infect their best buddy; in turn, the oxen gives the little bird protection from larger predators, including the lion pride patrolling their territory. Not a word is spoken throughout, yet can one really argue that this mutualism relationship is not an example of cross-species teamwork?
Consider again the remora fish and the great white shark. In similar fashion to the oxen-oxpecker relationship, the great white shark gets a nice clean set of 300 teeth; the remora avaials itself of free transport through the vast sea by hitchhiking onto the shark, and a great status boost by befriending such a formidable beast.
Just as the Coke-McDonald’s partnership can be considered teamwork between two colossal brands, the unspoken contract between the remora and the shark must also be considered as such.
What about ivy and the trees on which it grows? The ivy is given a stable structure to grow on, encouraged to strive for the canopy it so seeks to reach. But the tree, it doesn’t gain anything. Giving up its own capacity to grow larger, providing the ivy strength to climb to greater heights. It doesn’t expect anything in return from the ivy, as long as the ivy is given a chance to accomplish its dreams, whether it actually does or not, the tree can proudly say that it has fulfilled its own purpose. Is this also, in a certain sense, a form of teamwork?
What about the barnacle riding freely on the skin of a blue whale? What about the spider weaving its web on a canvas of leaves? The fish living rent-free in sea urchins? The birds building their nests on the tops of trees?
Then there is us. What about the parents working restlessly throughout the day and night, never expecting any return on the endless hours they’ve put in? “Time is money”, but never has the time invested generated a return on profit of more time given back. Yet, these parents are willing to make this investment thousands of times over, with the same passion and determination as they had the first time. A child really is a family’s greatest investment.
Goodness forbid the child find out just how hard they are working either, no, the parent’s work is always behind the scenes. In front of the curtains, the parent always seems strong to the child.
For it is not the chick’s job to worry whether the nest is well, it’s only job is to fly off further and further each day. The chick does not fear the many times it will certainly fall, because no matter how many times they do, they know their parent is always there to pick them back up and send them off into the sky again. The chick does not fear the many times it will certainly fly off course, because no matter how many times they get lost, there will always be a well-made nest waiting for them to fly back to.
Until one day, it is time for it to soar off into the world and build its own nest, in its own tree; a tree which will give it selfless support as long as it needs it, just as its family once did.
Only once you become a parent can you truly understand the joy of being one. The joy of working behind the scenes, so your child can shine in the spotlight. This, is love. Love is patient, love is kind, love keeps no record of wrongdoings, it does not seek for the benefit of the self, it always trusts, it always hopes, protects, perseveres.
A form of teamwork that needs no words to be spoken. Just as siblings can say nothing, yet say everything they need to through a single glance. Just as a parent only needs to conduct a single head gesture, their thoughts instantly understood by their child. Teamwork needs no communication, teamwork needs not to benefit the self.
Teamwork is that herd of elephants fending off a lion; teamwork is a tree supporting a nest of new-born hatchlings as the parent flies back with a beak full of worms; teamwork is the soft rustling sound of your mother loading the washing machine late at night to make sure your soccer uniform is fresh and clean for tomorrow’s practice.
Teamwork may be the act of individuals coming together and operating as one, but love is the greatest form of teamwork imaginable.
