Company Team Build - 18 October 2007

As Thursday the 18^th of October dawned with a clear and warm sunrise, McCannites across Jo’burg donned their colourful T-shirts, representing their team allocation for the day, and made their way to the Kyalami Function Venue.

The activity for the day was Art-Jamming – each team receiving a selection of designs and blank canvas tiles on which to etch and paint these designs. The tiles (all 56 of them), when placed together, created the Masterpiece (which now hangs in reception – no one can accuse us of not showing pride in our creative work). So what’s the catch in this seemingly simple exercise? No-one (besides Wim Spronk the mastermind Creative behind the Masterpiece) has seen the big picture and the segments were allocated randomly to the teams, with no team having received two adjacent pieces.

Without collaboration, integration and a dash of inspiration, the task would be impossible. After a half hour spent trying to figure it out in isolation, the teams came to the rapid realization that, unless they started sharing information, lining up their individual tiles with each other, and working hand-in-hand, the Masterpiece would become a Disaster-piece.

With the initially divided colours working in tight huddles around their tables, the venue was soon awash with a palette of bright t-shirts dashing around in excitement and eagerness. Competitive whispers were replaced with urgent echoes across the room and gleeful whoops when the right team with the needed information was located.

Three hours later, with the final brushes of paint having been made, it was time for the Masterpiece to be assembled. With the colourful tiles laid together, the segmented and somewhat meaningless pieces came to life. The big picture was revealed! A rare moment of silence prevailed as the realization hit home that the whole is greater the sum of its parts.

In true McCann style, the success of the morning’s activity was celebrated until well into the evening. Between fun soccer, extremely competitive volley ball and rhythmic (and some not so rhythmic) dancing, the McCannites spent some well-deserved time having fun in the comfort of friends.

Yet there is a moral to every good tale, so here’s a summary of the lessons of the day.

Collaboration, “the act of working together with one or more people in order to achieve something”, synonyms are “teamwork, partnership, group effort, association and alliance”.

Integration, “the process of coordinating separate elements into a balanced whole”, synonyms are “addition, mixing, incorporation, combination, amalgamation and assimilation”.

What does this mean to us? We are all loyal bearers of the logos of our three operating companies. But, without collaboration and integration we will never achieve the potential masterpiece that McCann Worldgroup South Africa holds for us all.

We must work together towards the goal, the masterpiece, and the promise of McCann Worldgroup South Africa as a seamless operating company.

And what is the goal, the big picture for McCann Worldgroup South Africa moving into 2008 and the future beyond that? Watch this space! As we perfect the art of pulling together as a force to be reckoned with in this industry, this market and this region, the big picture will soon be revealed by end of year.

That dash of inspiration? Each of us needs to be accountable and committed to working together in ways, manners and behaviours that keep all of enthused and inspired! McCann Worldgroup SA is demonstrably greater than the sum of the individual disciplines.

So here’s to the future, the fun and the ultimate success that each of us individuals play in this greater picture.