Agility accelerates teamwork
College football coach P. J. Fleck gained national notoriety with a highly motivational style fueled by a very simple call-to-action: “row the boat.” Fleck now head of the University of Minnesota football program, says “row the boat represents hope, energy, and purpose.”
According to an interview broadcast by ESPN radio, Fleck attributes the mantra to an extremely challenging time he experienced in 2011 when dealing with the death of his newborn son Colt. “It’s a never-give-up mantra,” Fleck said. “I lost my second son to a heart condition. As you hold your son as he takes his last breath, that’s pretty tough to go through — and your whole life changes. You’re living your life for someone else. He’s on my back, always. That’s where row the boat originated.”
Fleck says “the oar is the energy you bring to your life, your family, your spiritual life, your academic life. It’s what you bring to life. You choose whether your oar is in the water or out of the water. If your oar is out of the water, you’re not going to go anywhere,” he said. “The boat is the sacrifice — what are you willing to give up for something you’ve never had. The compass is the direction of your life set by the leader.”
While it’s easy to dismiss Fleck’s inspiration as a mere sloganizing, there are powerful leadership implications in his words — and the proof is in the pudding. Fleck succeeded at both Western Michigan University where the mantra originated and now at the University of Minnesota where his energetic style won the confidence of at first skeptical players. Gopher linebacker Carter Coughlin says he had no idea what “row the boat” meant when he first heard it. “At first I 100 percent rolled my eyes.” But then a major road win at Wisconsin caused the team’s “belief system to flip. The validation flipped,” Fleck said. The team went on to a 10-win season and major bowl appearance the following year. “I don’t blame you for not rowing the boat right at the beginning,” Coughlin admits. “But after all this, you’ve gotta hop into the boat right now.”
Of course, relying on slogans, taglines, and crafty exhortations for success in the business world is rife with peril. Renown business process and management expert W. Edwards Deming wrote, “the immediate effect of a campaign of posters, exhortations, and pledges may well be some improvement of quality and productivity, the effect of elimination of some obvious special causes. In time, improvement ceases or even reverses. The campaign is eventually recognized as a hoax. The management needs to learn that the main responsibility is theirs from now on to improve the system, and, of course, to remove any special causes detected by statistical methods.”
So why is the this relevant to you? Is a concept like “row the boat” simply motivational mumbo jumbo that collapses at the first sign of potential failure? Fleck says no. “People tend to stop rowing in storms, they give up,” the fiery coach laments. “When you row the boat, everyone has got to be in one line. Everybody has got to be rowing in the same direction, at the same speed, and with the same efficiency to get from point A to point B in the most efficient and fastest way possible.”
When it comes to your organization, think of “rowing the boat” in terms of integrating Hope [Vision], Energy [Systems], and Purpose [Strategy] in a fashion that delivers value for your customers while motivating team members and engaging channel partners with equal enthusiasm. Here are three ways you can transform the teamwork aspect of rowing a boat into competitive advantage for your business.
THE OAR — Energy
The oar is the tool that drives and steers the boat. But it still takes everyone rowing in harmony to move the boat with speed and agility. The team must be focused on a common and meaningful Vision. Focus enables and encourages action and urgency. According to Fleck, “now has to matter, you can’t wait.” This means your Agile organization should always be on the attack. Always working in perfect harmony at your own pace while maintaining proper levels of urgency and efficiency.
Internationally acclaimed crew boat designer and builder George Yeoman Pocock — the man behind the miraculous achievement of the University of Washington eight-man crew that shocked the world by winning gold at the 1936 summer Olympic games in Berlin — said, “rowing a race is an art, not a frantic scramble. It must be rowed with head power as well as hand power. From the first stroke all thoughts of the other crew must be blocked out. Your thoughts must be directed to you and your own boat, always positive, never negative.”
THE BOAT — An Infrastructure of Innovation and Continuous Improvement
Pocock also observed, “a good shell has to have life and resiliency to get in harmony with the swing of the crew.” Which is why his company — The George Pocock Racing Shell Company —became the standard of excellence in manufacturing racing shells of extraordinary quality. Moreover, Pocock was not one to rest on his laurels. He continually improved his products with innovations such as sliding seats, streamlined, ultra-light oars, specially crafted oarlocks that minimized friction, and a radically reengineered steering mechanism that replaced the clumsy tillers of old.
Infrastructure — shared values, processes, procedures, and methodologies — are the vehicle that moves the organization. Operating a business at optimum speed is exceedingly difficult. Things seemingly outside of your control — like competition, market conditions, supply chain partners, regulations, you name it — are at once your greatest challenges and most valuable assets. Hierarchal environments driven by regimented systems will not do. Cross-functional teams unafraid of change and the retraining and reinvention that go with it are essential. You must relentlessly strive to make your boat as streamlined and efficient as possible.
THE COMPASS — Trust and Competence
Championship caliber companies foster complete confidence in each and every team member. Doing so creates focus and gives people license to drive hard toward achieving goals and objectives without fear of failure. In addition, it gives them confidence they have the unmitigated support of the entire organization.
Business management expert and best-selling author Patrick Lencioni writes, “The kind of trust necessary to build a great team is what I call vulnerability-based trust. This is what happens when team members get to a point where they are completely comfortable being transparent, honest, and naked with one another, where they say genuinely mean things like ‘I screwed up,’ ‘I need help,’ ‘Your idea is better than mine,’ ‘I wish I could learn to do that as well as you do,’ and even, ‘I’m sorry.’” When you surround yourself with great people doing great things with great intentions marvelous things happen. “A boat is a sensitive thing,” Pocock says. “If it isn’t let go free, it doesn’t work for you.”
TEAMWORK MANIFESTS THE AGILE ORGANIZATION
In a business climate characterized by uncertainty, ambiguity, volatility, and a high degree of dissonance, Agility is increasingly vital in establishing and sustaining competitive advantage. This is an undeniable truth for any organization. Which means a clear vision of why you exist and what you hope to achieve is of paramount importance. Vision is the energy that fuels your organization.
At the same time, your systems and methodologies must be in sync. Agile operations require disciplined teams focused on shared values, goals and objectives. You must establish the proper rhythm and flow in complete alignment with customer and market-wide expectations. In such an environment processes and procedures are customer-centric.
Finally, be Purpose-driven. Open and honest communication facilitates trust and competence across your organization. Confidence in one another and the organization’s ultimate purpose is a sure-fire means of enabling team members to think of themselves in terms of the cooperative effort and achievements of the team as a whole.
Peter Drucker quipped “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Cultivating a “row the boat” culture is a proven means of accelerating teamwork and creating and maintaining an Agile organization.