Think One Team, 2nd Edition

part I the story of the big jelly bean team

Once upon a time, in a now-fashionable inner-city district of Sydney, Australia, a business called O’Donnell’s Jelly Bean Company became the market leader in the confectionery industry.

Founded by brothers William and Walter O’Donnell on their return from the Second World War, O’Donnell’s Jelly Bean Company was enormously proud of its seventy-year-plus history, its role as an employer of people from the local community and its profitability. Most of all, however, the people of O’Donnell’s Jelly Bean Company were proud of its products.

It had been that way since William and Walter produced the first jelly beans in the kitchen of their home in Birchmore Street and sold them to children in the neighbouring streets. ‘O’Donnell’s’, as the business came to be affectionately known, produced the best-looking, best-tasting and best-value jelly beans that money could buy. Any kid who lived near Birchmore Street could tell you that money spent on those monster-sized O’Donnell’s jelly beans was a far superior investment to the bland fare at the local store, which carried all the ‘brand’ lollies. Importantly, an O’Donnell’s jelly bean commanded a greater price when on-sold at school. Many children doubled their pocket money by investing in a few of those precious jelly beans and then selling them for a handsome profit at recess. The fame and profitability of William and Walter’s jelly beans spread through the schools across the city and within ...