Lack of group spirit

By Nazmus Saklain Hosseniganj, Rajshahi
15 April 2005, 18:00 PM
There is no denying the fact that almost every Bangladeshi is unique as individual performer. But most of them fail while working in a group. Why? Because (1) Everyone of us wants to be something big (2) None wants to see others doing good (3) Everyone wants to be a major stakeholder in any big achievement (4) We are yet to appreciate that group achievement is more important then individual achievement and at times we should forget about individual interest for reaching a bigger goal (5) Most of us don't feel that a big task cannot be done by one person (6) We don't know how to work in a group. This is, probably, one of the main reasons why we are lagging behind many countries, in spite of having outstanding individual talents.

In other countries people are more interested to be part of a successful team than being renowned individually. This is actually the team spirit. Our political parties want to be in power at any cost. They don't feel that it is better to be in the 'Opposition' of a prosperous country than being in power in a poor one. Even within a single party almost everyone wants to become at least an MP, else he thinks that his political career is a failure. They don't feel that every task in a team is important and the team will never achieve its goal if the small (so-called) tasks are not done. In this country everyone wants to be an officer but does not think that if a sweeper fails to do his job the whole country will turn filthy, and thus sweeping is also an important job. An officer should take pride in being an officer and similarly a sweeper should also take pride in his job.

I believe only a culture of 'Group Spirit' can ensure a prosperous Bangladesh.