Don’t Catch a Crab
So much is written about alignment. I fear it is an overused term and woke today attempting to find a suitable replacement. The epiphany has evaded me. What you call it in the end does not matter – it is one of those things that when you have it you know it, it is palpable. Yet very few companies ever really accomplish it.
My son was on a crew team. It is a fascinating sport. In his senior year of high school, his coach assembled a rather rag tag group of young men to form a lightweight 8 boat. I say rag-tag only because there was very little these young men had in common physically – ranging from 5”6 inch tall to 6’2”. Their life experiences and interests were just as varied. I remember as they launched to race the San Diego crew classic, I asked the coach if he got nervous when they were racing. His response surprised me, “only when I know they could take it all”. With all the differences between them, the coach could see the common denominator – an insane drive to perform. He knew what he saw and developed that. The team won the National Championship.
Crew is quite different from any other athletic endeavor. Optimal performance is dependent on the synchronization and alignment of 8 rowers with one person – a coxswain directing the efforts. If one person is off, even if they are rowing faster or harder – can completely destroy the performance of the team. If the team is not aligned physically, an oar can get caught under the water resulting in what is termed, “catching a crab”. The oar handle can slam into the rower’s chest or neck – can even throw a rower out of the boat.
I don’t think I have ever experienced a company with the discipline of a crew team, but the ideal should be our goal. We have all experienced the environments in which there is a lot of activity. People are working hard but the company is not moving forward. The goals are not being met.
The key is taking the time to first assess where the inconsistency originates. It isn’t always apparent to those in the boat.