Yeah, I'm just a marshmallow ... a CHAMPION marshmallow

[hrj]

So you know how I had that dream that handed me my war cry of "Because I'm bossy and have control issues!? I think I had another one of those moments today in an off-site team building day with co-workers. We're doing this competitive small-team competition involving building a tower out of uncooked spaghetti with a marshmallow on top. (Look: either you've done one of these and you know exactly what I'm talking about or this makes as much sense as one of my dream journal entries.) And as the boss is explaining the scenario and even before we draw lots for teams I say, "Ok, I have the perfect design in mind, so whoever ends up on my team, be prepared to follow orders and hit the ground running." Which was totally against the intended theme that productive teams are all about give and take and open communication and cooperative interactions.

Things might have gone differently if this was a thrown-together group that was truly exploring new teamwork possibilities with unknown strangers. But no, my team members just shrugged and said, "What do you want us to do?"

We won (naturally). Me? Competitive much? What gave it away? And for anyone who isn't already aware: if you ever end up on a team with me, just know that I can lead, I can follow, but I will not tolerate futzing around negotiating and "processing" -- especially when there's bragging rights to be won.

Comments

[herveus.livejournal.com]

I can see where that war cry might fit me. I was doing some Boy Scout leader training, and we had one of these sorts of activities. I immediately recognized the puzzle we were set to solve and just took over with the direction. Everyone else went with the flow and we were done lickety-split.

I do try to moderate myself, all the same. That may explain why I can have a hard time getting help with things.