"What's gonna work? Teeeeammmwork!
What's gonna work? Teeaammmmmmwork!"
-The Wonder Pets, Nick Jr.
I learn about teamwork every night, usually between the hours of 7 and 8 as my youngest is winding down for the day. When it's time for a little late night bottle, and some chillin' on the couch with whatever warm body he's decided he wants to lay on that night, my son simply MUST have his Wonder Pets. In these 12 minute tales--2 per episode--Lenny the hamster, Tuck the turtle, and Ming Ming the duckling rescue baby animals in danger by working together. Despite the fact that a disproportionate amount of these baby animals are 'stuck' somewhere--in a tree, in the mud, in a tar pit, in a tree again--I actually really like this show. I think because the characters aren't your average loud talking, over-enunciating, goody-goodies (can you say Dora the f-ing explorer...I want to strangle that little spanglish talking kid). Ming Ming is actually quite a handful and prone to bouts of hubris and--
Okay, so I won't bore you with an in-depth deconstruction of the Wonder Pets, but I'm so glad my son is learning about teamwork at an early age. Not only that teamwork is necessary, but what ROLE he would like to play on a team. Is he Lenny the kind and patient leader? Is he Ming Ming, the follower who wants to be leader but really doesn't have the people skills or the desire to work quite that hard? Or is he Tuck, the mediator who gets along with most anyone and doesn't mind deferring to the superior leadership skills of his friend the Hamster?
I think knowing how your personality fits into a team is vitally important. As a film actor, I DID NOT LIKE MY ROLE IN THE TEAM AT ALL!! It drove me crazy that the screenwriter put words in the mouth of my character that were sometimes laughably awful, that the director could guide my performance into being overblown or inappropriate, and that an editor could choose the most hideous take and put IT in the movie so that I had the wonderful experience of cringing as I watched myself months later. Not to mention the makeup artist who got to draw my eyebrows in dark black, or the sound editor who dubbed lines from one take with picture from another because a plane was flying overhead, or...the damn plane itself or...
There were too many variables, too many team members, and the more team members, the harder it was to please everyone on the team.
With writing, I find the team work much more manageable. Though I've been burned once or twice by getting *that close* to a NYC contract only to be shot down by the advertising department or what have you, most of my teamwork experiences are comprised of 3-4 people who work very well together. I've worked with some amazing editors, cover artists, and copy editors, and have the great pleasure to be a part of this group of writers. I can't tell you how much fun I'm having being a DNW! Each one of these ladies is so smart, and hard-working, and funny, and I've been a part of enough groups/teams/what-have-you to know how very special our 'clicking' so easily truly is.
So thanks DNWs and to all the DNW readers--the people who make the team work possible in the first place. Thanks for reading :).
Anna J. Evans
http://laughoutloudsexy.com
http://annajevans.blogspot.com
3 comments:
Oh, GREAT post, Anna! Not that I've ever seen the Wonder Pets (if my little 'um decided to snuggle up on my belly now, you could all come to my funeral...) But your post actually reminded me of one of my favorite young adult fantasy series, the Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander, in which Taran, stumbling his way into learning about leadership, is aided by Eilonwy of the red-gold hair, Coll and Fflewddur Fflam, the failed harper/king, and Gurgi, the shaggy whatsit who is sheer emotion and loyalty...
The thing that was perhaps most wonderful about the books was the variety of the characters, and how each of them was critical -- each was necessary, and without them the whole would have been so greatly lessened. Your post was a wonderful reminder that it is not only our virtues that are valuable. Sometimes our truest contributions come from those very things we would normally consider flaws :)
Aww thanks Sierra. I love how you always make me sound way smarter than I am simply from your intelligent commentary, lol!
I used to love Lloyd Alexander. I really need to go back and reread some of my favorite teen reads.
Hugs,
Anna
Hey Lil!
Thanks for posting. I love mediators. I wouldn't say I am one, lol, but I'm not really a leader either. I'm happy to follow as long as the leader is doing a good job--or even a decent job. I only turn Ming-Mingish if the one in charge is a total waste.
Like many of my bosses in NYC, the restaurant managers who were always getting angry at we junior waiters for not staying perky at the end of our 10 hour shift. Meanwhile they were all hopped up on illegal substances and totally crazy, lol.
Anna
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