Safer Together (Pages 57 – 59)
By Adam Christopher, Director of Active Training Team (ATT) for The Partner 2024
Cited by Thomas Paine, JF Kennedy and mildly ridiculed by Mark Twain, one of Archimedes’ most famous quotations has been variously quoted either as metaphor or engineering principle. However, whichever way we interpret or apply it – as a driver towards peace or a call to action for everyone to make the most of their talents – one thing has always been clear to me. How much easier would it be if two people were to give weight to the lever?
“Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.”
Archimedes
However much we admire individual endeavour and achievement, it is inevitable that by combining and applying singular strengths we are able to achieve much more. Furthermore, working together, collaborating, providing leadership or encouraging and enabling others’ talents and skills, is a skill in itself.
If you have seen the BBC reality show The Traitors, then you will have witnessed the extraordinary psychological shift which occurs when the participants are set challenges as a group. While the contest essentially sets individuals against each other in a game of deception, once in teams and assigned a mission, duplicitous tactics take second place to the common goal of securing extra funds for the prize pot. The level of support between contestants is palpable and the collaborative effort inevitably increases the value of the potential spoils.
Read on here.
