Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Everyone claims agreement. Great. Let’s just test that statement with a blank sheet of paper.

The beginning of this post is copied from a post a couple years back. Then we pick up with a different test.

“We all agree on what we are to do!” claimed a person full of hope and anxious to get to work.

“Wow, great,” said a second person who likes to hear good news, but is skeptical when hearing that, “Everyone is in agreement.”

“Let’s confirm that,” suggests the second person.

The first person, pauses and stops breathing. “Well,” says the first person, “everyone is nodding, so that confirms it.”

“Maybe,” says the second person, “and since you are so confident, let’s take just a couple of minutes to confirm.”

All the persons who were nodding stop nodding and also stop breathing.

“Please,” says the second person, “No one say anything while we confirm this and no one look at what your neighbor will be writing.”

The second person gives all the agree-ers a blank sheet of paper. Each person has a pen or pencil.

“Okay,” says the second person, “everyone write the agreement on their sheet of paper. Please, no talking and no peaking at anyone else’s piece of paper. Just jot the agreement, a few lines or sentences will be fine. And don’t write your name on your paper.”

Everyone writes, and the second person collects the pieces of paper without looking at any of them. The second person shuffles the pieces of paper.

The second person randomly pulls one piece of paper, sets it face down on the table, and folds the rest of the papers.

“Okay,” says the second person holding the randomly selected piece of paper. “We will implement what is on this piece of paper word for word without further ado.”

“But wait,” interrupted the first person who was full of hope and anxious to get to work. “Let’s read it first and discuss it and make sure that it is correct and…”

“Huh?” asked the second person. “You said everyone agreed. Hence, what anyone wrote would be what everyone agreed. Let’s get to work.”

Of course the group insisted on reading what was on the piece of paper and changing every word. Of course the group had not agreed on what they wanted to do. Perhaps the little exercise helped them to understand that. Perhaps. Let’s do better.

Two minutes later, the second person collects all the pieces of paper.