Asking for help is a strength

Have a look at this talk! I know it has already been watched by 1 million people… It is not a discovery. However, when we are often wondering how we can develop cooperation and collaboration within our organizations, Michele L. Sullivan, a Carterpillar executive, and a social impact advisor, has a simple answer: asking for help and developing our empathy. It is obvious but not so often done; we still have competitive or “not my job” cultures which prevent the implementation of a collaborative culture. So why not making asking for help a normal behavior? From the top management to the shop floor workers? We could have public sessions, town halls or platforms with a “what can I do for you?” or an “I am looking for help purpose”. We could even reward or highlight the best “helpers”. What do you think about?

The 2nd message is about empathy. I quote this simple sentence: “I do not believe you can walk in someone else's shoes, and because of that, we must adopt a new way of giving of ourselves. Simply stated, I will never know what it's like to be you and you will never know what it's like to be me. I cannot face your fears or chase your dreams, and you can't do that for me, but we can be supportive of each other. Instead of trying to walk in each other's shoes, we must adopt a new way of giving of ourselves.” Just read it twice, think about it and decide what you will do with it tomorrow at work.

Last but not least, this Talk is fun, so if with the 2 points above I did not convince you yet, just watch it for fun, and let me know.