STFU #56 - Room on the Broom - When the Witch of your startup needs help to fight the Dragon

A kind witch and her grumpy cat are cruising on their broom.?Suddenly her hat gets dropped off - when they go down searching for it, a nice kind-hearted smiling puppy comes along with the hat. While returning the hat to the witch, he asks if he can join her trip and sit on the broom as well. The kind witch readily accepts, even though the grumpy cat does not want any ‘newbie’.?

Every time she has to fly, she taps the broomstick with her wand, shouting,?“Iggety, Ziggety, Zaggaty...Zoom!”?and the broom flies away.?

As they fly again, the witch loses her hair tie and then her wand. But every time they try to find the missing pieces, a new character helps her out in finding the piece, but also asks for a ‘place on the broom’. And every single time, the kind witch agrees without any hesitation - the team keeps getting added.

First a puppy, a keen loyal team player, then a shrieky Green bird, who has been rejected and lonely for being ‘different’, and then a frog with OCD who looks down on his own kind for sitting in the mud-eating bugs, and loves hygiene. Naturally,?with every new character joining, the earlier team does not appreciate making space for a new entrant.?

With so many characters on the broom, the broom is quite loaded and under pressure. As the wind gets faster and the broom goes higher, it cannot take any more pressure and breaks apart. All the animals and the bird fall down with the witch.?

Suddenly a fire-breathing dragon appears to be chasing them, as he wants to have “Witch ‘n Chips” for lunch and is after the ‘witch’. As the witch fails to run away, she almost accepts her unfortunate fate and faints.?

Just as the dragon is about to take off with its prey, a scary, many-headed monster emerges from the swamp and scares the dragon off with gruesome growls, shrieks, hisses, and croaks, rescuing the witch from becoming a dragon snack.?

Surprisingly, the swamp monster is none other than the fearless, stacked-up team of cat, puppy, bird, and frog, who had finally managed to set aside their differences and come together as a team using their different talents and rescue the witch!

Even though they had their own differences, they came together for the witch, as they all shouted loudly at the dragon,

“Buzz off! That’s my Witch!”

When you are the Witch

Imagine you, as a founder, are the Witch (If you ask your team, it is highly likely that they would already be alluding to you with such monikers).? As you start looking around, while the broom is deservingly your startup, you should be able to identify your old timers ‘grumpy’ cats. Interestingly, you would also be able to pinpoint the cheerful loyal puppies, the outlier different ‘bird’, and the hygienic conscious frog. And then, you will notice the Dragon!?

Every single character you take will be different in her own way - and are bound to fight it out.

As a witch, when we start with our broom, we usually hire people who are different. They are not the usual ones - everyone has to be different to take the plunge and sit on your broom. But if they like you, most likely they will come over and sit on your broom. Incidentally, just like the cat, the early ones are usually entitled and feel they own the broom. They tend to be (and stay) grumpy. The new ones are more excited and forthcoming and are usually very different from others. Hence, there is bound to be conflict.?

As broom-ers, when we join a ‘broom’, some of us might be a differently colored bird, a perfectionist hygienic frog, an over-caring puppy, or a nonchalant cat. But that's the beauty of the witch. She does not carry prejudices. And she encourages diversity.

Incidentally, the more diverse the group, the more the infighting.?

But it is this very team that comes together and fights when it needs to and has a common enemy. When you go down, they are the ones who will come together, and become that fierce force.

The ‘different’?become ‘outliers’ when they deliver!

The Broom called ‘True Elements’

At True Elements, there isn’t a single witch but more than a few of us. Some started as animals and then became ‘witches’ of their brooms. Each of the animals is different in its own way, and hence, the infighting is obvious. If you walk around, you are bound to find grumpy cats sitting next to cheerful puppies, who will calmly accept feedback and be the most diligent, but also OCD frogs who get flustered between ‘push’ and ‘pull’ buttons, fighting with the different ‘green’ bird who looks ‘different’ and shrieks a lot, but is the one who knows the direction.?

Each of them has a space on the broom but has their own needs and cribs that keep them busy.?

But when it comes to fighting out the world, they all come together and become this multi-headed monster that everyone fears. Their shrieks will scare you, their barks will haunt you, and they don’t mind getting dirty with the ‘mud’ around them. You can literally feel it when they shout in unison, “Buzz off! That’s my Witch!”

As we now face the dragon, I know that no matter where they come from, the entire team will come together and fight out the dragon.? They are all different in their own little ways, but, at the broom, they know deep inside that they have found a set of lifelong friends who will stick together when it counts!?All we need to say is...

”Iggety, Ziggety, Zaggety, Zoom!”

How does the story end

The story ends with the witch?using a personal ingredient from each of her team members to customize their new ‘broom’ that takes care of everyone’s needs and preferences: Armchairs for the witch, cat and puppies, a nest for the bird and a shower for the OCD frog. At True Elements, the witches are busy picking the personal ingredients of every animal around.?

The final lines of the poem read as...

“Iggety, Ziggety, Zaggety, ZOOM!”?

then out rose....a True-ly Magnificent Broom!?

“Yes” cried the witch, and they all clambered on.

The witch tapped the broomstick and whoosh! they were gone!

Find your animals or find your witch, for that, in a real sense, is STFU!

If you want to listen to a quick summary of the poem,?here it is.

References:?Lessons from Room on the Broom,?Characters in the Room on the Broom | Images:?Multi-headed Dragon,?Room on the Broom all animals