In the book, The Orange Revolution: How One Great Team Can Transform an Entire Organization, coauthors Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton relay a story of a team that adopted a mascot – a purple water buffalo – to help define its values.
Scott O’Neill, president of Madison Square Garden Sports tells how team members were inspired after seeing a video of a water buffalo fighting for survival in South Africa. In the video, captured by tourists, a pride of lions attacks a herd of water buffalo and separates a baby from the rest of the fleeing herd. They catch up and corner the baby on the bank of a lake. As they begin gnawing on the baby water buffalo, a couple of alligators swim up sensing an opportunity for an easy meal. One grabs hold of the buffalo’s hind leg while the lions pull on his neck. The lions win the tug-of-war and drag the baby further onto land. Then an interesting thing happens. The herd of water buffalo regroups and returns to come to the aid of the baby. They buffalo approach the lions tentatively and eventually overtake them freeing the baby water buffalo, who amazingly is able to walk away.
O’Neill sees the video as being analogous to corporate America, and to life. Team members asks themselves, “Who do we want to be?”
- Do we want to be the tourists that just sit around and watch things happen?
- Do we want to be the lions that prey on the most vulnerable?
- Do we want to be the crocodiles that take advantage of those that are down?
- Do we want to be water buffalo – active participants that rally around one another and look out for the good of the group?
Symbols and the stories they represent can be valuable tools. They can define teams, reminding them of shared commitments and galvanize them behind common causes. I’d be interested in hearing from other managers that have had similar positive experiences with symbols.
Flickr photo credit http://www.flickr.com/photos/goldenpig/178017800/
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