Mastering Teamwork

Justine, Adim, and Luka have to create an English-language tourist brochure about New York. The teacher wants it to be handwritten, specifically to prevent them from simply copying and pasting from Wikipedia…

Adim is the type to spiral out of control, declaring “I’ve failed everything,” yet somehow always managing to scrape a 16/20 at the end of the day… Luka is the type to aim for just enough to stay above average and avoid getting in trouble at home, without putting in too much effort. He is a good student, though he doesn’t realize it just yet… As for Justine, she is the class clown, keeping everyone laughing even during lessons, sometimes to the point where she forgets to actually study… For Adim, letting his GPA drop because of this assignment is out of the question. He is taking charge, volunteering to handle the research at the library, synthesizing the findings, sourcing illustrations, and managing the layout. In short, he’s taking care of everything…

Luka will be in charge of the snacks, while Justine handles the atmosphere… Justine finds this division of labor very fair and already has an idea for a New York-themed playlist… Luka, on the other hand, isn’t taking it very well. Sure, Adim’s reports might make his mother dizzy, but he feels responsible for the final production and wants to be part of it. He will visit New York one day, and he would love to learn more about the city. He also believes the end result will be better as a team effort rather than a solo contribution, even if he is the straight-A student of the group.

He proposes dividing the work into three parts, with everyone handling their own section before bringing it all together at the end. This is where Justine completely disagrees. The result would be a patchwork of three different styles, lacking any sense of cohesion. She has no interest in a “shoddy” brochure…

Adim is sulking, Justine is offended, and Luka is frustrated. They need to establish some ground rules to work together: Justine suggests that everyone shares their perspective, and others are only permitted to criticize if they offer an alternative proposal. They agree to organize and plan their workflow. Everyone is tasked with finding interesting information or links and centralizing them in a shared online space.

Anyone can do it whenever they want, whether from the office or working remotely. They chat online to decide what to keep and in what order. It’s intense—Adim is a tough negotiator… But Justine and Luka are learning a lot from his workflow. The content is gradually taking shape through their collaborative efforts, following the plan they decided on together… Luka, who watches all his series in the original version, knows all the right American idioms. And he even helps smooth out Adim’s accent, which is still “so frenchy”…

Justine, who spends her time caricaturing her classmates, drew the Manhattan skyline for the cover, which shocked Luka and Adim. They had no idea she was such a talented artist! Anyway, everything is ready.

Adim lent his beautiful handwriting to the inside of the brochure. He opens it and… Disaster! He wrote everything upside down, leaving Justine’s drawing completely inverted. All that for nothing… Adim is mortified and wants to redo the whole thing, even if it means working through the night. Luka is disgusted. And Justine? She just laughs… She takes the brochure from Adim’s hands and writes on her drawing: New York is breathtaking!