Andrew Melville writes that bringing together the old Auckland 'tribes' will be a big job.
I live a stone's throw from Eden Park. Watching the new stadium and the surrounding infrastructure being built is a fascinating study of motivated teams working together.
I'm not privy to the style of project management and the range of collaborations among the "subbies" who are contracted to do myriad tasks. Nor do I have an inkling of the immense challenges, frayed nerves or balls-ups.
But what I do see is groups of men working "hard out", often into the night, and getting the job done with apparent great speed and efficiency.
It should be a nightmare. Besides the great task of building the stadium and its entranceways on time, in the surrounding streets there are new projects for water, sewerage, power, phones, a rail station, roads, footpaths, parks, some public artworks and sculptures all happening at the same time.
And yet, somehow, the traffic and interruption for me as a resident in the thick of it seems manageable (apart from a notable exception during the Springbok test, but that is another story of "traffic management").
There is an end in sight. We are building a cathedral. When I talk to the guys closing roads, shifting machinery or shovelling gravel, through their exhaustion appears a sense of excitement that they are contributing to something great: the Rugby World Cup.
It reminds me of that great urban myth about John F. Kennedy chatting to a Nasa cleaner at Cape Canaveral and asking him what he did. The man's reply was that he was "working to put a man on the moon".
Recently in Christchurch we have seen people unite in a time of huge adversity. They've picked up shovels, opened their doors and most people have risen to the occasion. When there is a goal or a problem far greater than our usual daily experience, we unite to achieve a greater good.
Now, a question: Is the new Auckland Council going to create a tribe with the same attitude as it comes into being in the coming weeks?
Right now the branding, story and culture of Auckland as a city and its councils remains confused and cluttered. We have the frayed "A" tourism logo, the Little Big City campaign, the new Pohutukawa logo, the remnants of the City of Sails, not to mention all the individual brand stories of the councils of north, east, west and south.
There is not a great deal of public faith in the new entity, and the staff in the soon-to-be-disbanded councils are numb from years of turmoil and restructure.
Will the best of the cultures created in those organisations over the past 20 years be transferred through to the single new entity?
Will those who come together under the new pohutukawa logo build a compelling story to go with it? The tree itself is iconic in Auckland. Its flowers are beautiful and have come to symbolise the Christmas summer season. Its gnarled roots and branches hold many cliffs together on the shores of Auckland's harbours. It has great potential. Can a new council tribe build a collective brand story around this symbol?
And is the leadership, both political and managerial, going to be visionary enough to lead the new tribe?
Leading international corporate anthropologist and Waiheke Island resident, Michael Henderson, tells a great story of Zulu workers being asked to work double time on shifts in gruelling South African gold mines.
Their foreman was a Zulu chief, and without complaint they agreed to do the long shifts because he called them to be, "We are Zulu".
It was an unquestioning collective pride, belonging and belief that had them go an arduous extra mile.
Henderson works with large organisations throughout New Zealand and Australia and says first identifying and then creating a sense of tribe can build powerful and united organisational cultures, leading to an engaged and happy workforce, excellent customer service, productivity and efficiency. I think that is exactly what the people of Auckland want from their new council.
If even a fraction of the level of commitment that we see demonstrated around Eden Park and across Christchurch can be created in the new city, then there is an even chance to build belief in a great city.
Auckland deserves to hit its straps as one of the greatest cities in the world. It is poised.
Andrew Melville has spent the past 20 years working in various roles as a communicator for Auckland City, Waitakere City and the Auckland Regional Council.
