This, That, and the Other

“The harmonizer,” Fred said. “Definitely the harmonizer.”

The group of five MBA students had gathered in a conference room they’d reserved at the business school library for a meeting of their team as part of their Organizational Dynamics class competition. The professor had given each of three teams of students a project to complete and had asked them, in addition to successfully completing the assigned project, to pay close attention to roles each individual within the groups played, and how each member’s behavior within the group either contributed to or detracted from the successful completion of the project.

“What does that mean?” Mark asked Fred. Mark preferred to think of himself as the team’s leader.

“Your role is to harmonize,” Fred replied. “When you see conflicts arise between team members, you seek out ways to achieve consensus, to get to yes.”

“As any good leader should,” Mark said.

“Ha!” Clark exclaimed.

Mark shot Clark a dirty look. “What do you mean by that?”

“You’re no leader,” Clark answered. “You couldn’t lead your way out of a wet paper bag.”

Then Clark spun around to face Fred. “And you are an obstructionist. “Without contributing anything at all, you block anyone who has any ideas or suggestions.”

“Don’t be an asshole,” Fred said to Clark.

“Boys, boys,” Sally, the only female in the group, chimed in.

“The bitch is back,” said Jeremy. “Go back to the kitchen, honey.”

“Fuck you, Jeremy! Fuck you all,” Sally screamed.

Mark, “the harmonizer,” shook his head and thought, “There goes my grade.”

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This post was written for today’s one-word prompt, “harmonizer.”