# What's your favourite metaphor for teamwork? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 15, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-metaphor-for-teamwork/578544 "2011-04-15T21:10:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JohnnyMac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@JohnnyMac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyMac)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-metaphor-for-teamwork/578544/1 "2011-04-15T21:10:31Z")
So, I’ve been asked to redesign a cartoon. It’s a simple, two-panel thing - in the first, a half-dozen people are fighting to reach an apple, in the second, they’re forming a human pyramid with the girl at the top happily brandishing the apple prize. The moral: if you work together, everyone wins. Current version is ugly as hell, and quite twee. It’s fallen to me to replace it, with what I’m not quite sure yet. Something with the same general message, anyhow. Which brings me to my question: can anyone share with me their favourite metaphors for teamwork? It doesn’t have to be something that helps me directly, here - I’m looking for anything to spark some ideas, so anecdotes, jokes, stories, or just straight metaphors are all more than welcome. If it’s clever, that’s a bonus! I’d really appreciate if some of you could help get my neurons firing. Apologies if this is the wrong forum, I wasn’t quite sure where to put it. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-metaphor-for-teamwork/578544/2 "2011-04-15T21:13:29Z")
The second mouse gets the cheese. ---
**Author:** ![wonder\_lust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecccb3/32.png) [@wonder\_lust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonder_lust)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-metaphor-for-teamwork/578544/3 "2011-04-15T21:36:01Z")
Since childhood, this [Sesame Street sketch](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUHOPEcJU3s) has defined teamwork for me. It pops into my head pretty regularly. I love that because each of characters recognizes both his own limitations and the other’s talents, they are able to solve a problem together. To me teamwork isn’t just about dividing up a task, it’s about mutual respect and trust…and, clearly, about participation. ---
**Author:** ![Al\_Bundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-metaphor-for-teamwork/578544/4 "2011-04-15T23:06:32Z")
My favorite is from a quote by former Michigan State football coach George Perles. I use it all the time. He was asked after a win what he told his team. He said, “I tell them keep your mouths shut and your nose to the grind stone and good thing will happen.” This would be quite easy to illustrate in cartoon form. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-metaphor-for-teamwork/578544/5 "2011-04-16T00:27:17Z")
> [@JohnnyMac](#): > > So, I’ve been asked to redesign a cartoon. It’s a simple, two-panel thing - in the first, a half-dozen people are fighting to reach an apple, in the second, they’re forming a human pyramid with the girl at the top happily brandishing the apple prize. The moral: if you work together, everyone wins. So, it occured to some management genius that one apple split six ways isn’t much of a reward? Now all that is running through my head is demotivational posters - dog sled teams, chain gangs … A piece work quilt is one of my favorite metaphors for a lot of things. It could work for teamwork.