Into the Storm (21 page)

But there is a downside. Other crew members who are tired, cold, and stressed can't help but notice the special treatment given to people in so-called
jewel positions
. Intellectually, they may understand the logic of special privilege. But emotionally, there is a different level of connectedness when everyone is expected to bear the same hardships.

Minimizing hierarchy and status differences doesn't mean that everyone has an equal say in decision making. But it is a fundamental shift in the way people think about their individual value and about the ethos of the team.

Bob Thomas, for example, has a special position as a navigator. But when there's a cup of coffee to be made and others aren't up to it or are seasick, Bob makes coffee. And when there's something to be pumped or sponged out of the bilge, Bob happily does the job no one else wants to do.

As the boat's co-owner, with a special set of skills, Bob could avoid these unpleasant jobs. But his willingness to pitch in has earned him the nickname of “the janitor”—a role that is clearly the opposite of a
jewel position
. This kind of willingness to sacrifice for the team is contagious, and others volunteer to do more than their share. The egalitarian spirit contributes to the building of a
Rock Star Team
, and it helps ensure that the fundamental bonds remain strong in the face of adversity.

Not every team can create—nor should it aspire to create—the level of close personal friendships that exists among members of the
AFR Midnight Rambler
crew. But I believe close relationships can be developed among team members that extend beyond the level of connectedness that exists in many formal business environments. That kind of connection is different than a personal friendship and professional relationship. I think of it as
mateship
.

The concept was brought home to me a number of times during my sailing adventures in Australia. One particularly vivid example occurred on a dark night when I was helping
Jungle
—aka James Craddock—drag a giant sail onto the deck at night. Nicknamed the “Anaconda,” the sail was so long that it wound around the cramped spaces below like a giant snake. It was also extremely heavy, so it took a tremendous amount of tugging, pulling, and pushing to get the sail on deck and ready to be hoisted.

Jungle was the powerhouse of the operation, but I put everything I had into getting the Anaconda in position as quickly as possible. When the task was complete, Jungle looked at me with a slight grin and said quietly, “Cheers, mate.”

The impact of those two words was quite astonishing. Given my relative lack of experience, I wasn't contributing to the team in the way I wanted. But I had given it my best effort, and I knew that Jungle was saying, in his own way, “Well done.”

Even more important, he and I were mates on that race. Jungle helped me figure out how to get into the “coffin bunk,” which was so tight I could hardly squeeze into it—and I could never turn sideways. He helped me negotiate the confusing process of stumbling around in the dark while the boat was pounding into heavy waves. And he cared enough to take the time while facing his own challenges.

Although I have corresponded with Jungle by e-mail, we are not close personal friends who stay in touch. But Jungle helped me understand the concept of
mateship
, and it is something I have tried to create whenever I'm a leader or member of a team. A simple “Cheers, mate” can go a long way in building a
Rock Star Team
.

In addition to his ability as a forward hand, John “Jonno” Whitfeld developed a reputation for his dedication to teamwork—even while taking buckets of cold water over his head without complaint. In recognition of his extraordinary contributions, the Ramblers presented Jonno with a trophy acknowledging his “Outstanding effort under adverse conditions.”

Although the award began as something of a tongue-in-cheek ceremony, the John Whitfeld Trophy has evolved into an important part of the Ramblers' tradition. At the end of each sailing season, the Ramblers vote for the crew member they feel has put in the greatest effort on behalf of the team. Then at an awards dinner, the winner from the previous year passes the trophy on to the new winner.

Although the trophy is somewhat like a most valuable player award, its significance lies in the fact that crew members are voting on effort and teamwork. The winner may not be the most technically advanced sailor. It could be a less experienced person who distinguishes himself with his dedication to the team.

What started out as a bit of humor has now become an important symbol of commitment to the success of the team. Although teams in other settings may not hand out a trophy, symbolic ways of rewarding effort and commitment to the group are important to building a
Rock Star Team
.

In their thoughtful book on teamwork,
X-Teams: How to Build Teams That Lead, Innovate, and Succeed
, Deborah Ancona and Henrik Bresman argue that the internal focus promoted by many best-selling books on teamwork can lead to failure. This inward focus can cause teams to become insular in organizational settings that require members to work in a matrix of many other teams.
⁵

This is a perspective worthy of careful consideration. The metaphor in this book is one that emphasizes a crew in direct competition with a number of other boats and crews. To the extent that this model creates insular thinking with an
us-versus-them
mentality, it can detract from team effectiveness in a larger organization. But with this caveat, I believe it is possible to learn from the exceptional teamwork of boats like the
Rambler
while maintaining the ability to work outside team boundaries.

Stepping back from the events of the ‘98 Hobart race, it is clear that there were many X-Teams operating during the storm. With 1,000 rescuers called into action, the level of external and collaborative focus was intense. The paramedics from
SouthCare
had to coordinate with rescuers on
Helimed. Sword of Orion
broke protocol to broadcast a high wind warning. And the yacht
Siena
went to the aid of
Stand Aside
while coordinating with another team on the ABC news helicopter.

At sea, ship captains have a legal obligation to render assistance to other vessels or aircraft in distress—providing the captain's own crew will not be endangered. In a traditional organizational setting, there may be no legal obligations for collaboration. But teams that succeed in this metaphorical race need to be capable of
Janusian thinking
.

Janus
, the Roman god of gates and doors, is often depicted as looking in two opposite directions simultaneously. Janus has come to symbolize the ability to hold two different thoughts in one's mind at the same time. In many settings,
Rock Star Teams
need to be able to do the same thing. On the one hand, they need to be looking inward and creating a sense of unparalleled esprit and unity. But on the other hand, they also need to maintain the ability to collaborate beyond team boundaries and build strong external ties. As paradoxical as it may seem, they need to be
Rock Star Teams
in
Rock Star Organizations
.

1.  Are all members of your team committed to the team goal? Are they willing to put in the time and make the effort needed to achieve that goal?

2.  Do team members have a realistic understanding of the sacrifice, dedication, and perseverance it will take to achieve the goal?

3.  Does your team have the diverse set of skills needed for success? Do you have the right people in the right roles?

4.  Does everyone on your team pitch in to help, or do you have
rock stars
in
jewel positions?

5.  Is there a sense of
mateship
in your team? Do you have a shared personal connection that contributes to the team's effectiveness?

6.  Are individual members rewarded for contributing to the success of the team? Do you have a
Jonno Trophy?

7.  When needed, are you able to look outside the boundaries of your team and work with external teams and individuals? Can you be an
X-Team
when the situation calls for it?

 

 

O
ne of the most distinctive characteristics of the
Rambler
crew is their focus on careful preparation. Mix Bencsik captured it this way:

I can only describe our preparation as meticulous. It's one of the key strengths of the team, and it starts with Ed's meticulous nature. The list of things to do usually runs into five or six full pages. Even if the boat is brand-new, the list is long. I think that preparation is one of the key reasons why we achieved success in the '98 race. But it is also a key element in our ongoing ability to sail well.
¹

Ed's checklist is a symbol of everything that the Ramblers do to maximize their chances of winning. They systematically review every aspect of the race—including the boat, the crew, and their strategy. Then they set about the task of ensuring that every element in this complex system is functioning to the best of its ability.

Reflecting on their careful process, Bob Thomas was reminded of the book
No Excuse to Lose: Winning Yacht Races with Dennis Conner
.
²
“When we're finished with our preparation,” Bob said, “we have removed all excuses for failure.”

The specifics of preparing a sailboat for the Sydney to Hobart are likely to be very different from the things your team needs to do to prepare for your race. The concept of a checklist, however, is broadly applicable.

In aviation, checklists are used extensively to minimize the possibility of pilot error. The idea originated in 1935 with a group of test pilots who had witnessed the crash of what was a complex airplane at the time—the B-99 Flying Fortress.
³

Although the pilot of the fallen B-99 was an experienced aviator, he had forgotten to release a new locking mechanism on the controls of the airplane. As a response, the test pilots created a simple checklist with step-by-step instructions for takeoff, flight, landing, and taxi. Individually, these tasks were rudimentary, but, collectively, it was easy to miss a step.

Because fear makes it easy to overlook even the most obvious things, checklists are also used in emergency situations. While Captain Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger III was attempting to recover from a “double bird strike” during the
Miracle on the Hudson
, his first officer was methodically running through an
engine restart checklist
. Sully and the plane eventually wound up in the Hudson, but only after the crew had systematically done everything possible to keep US Airways Flight 1549 flying.

Hospitals and health officials also advocate using checklists for safe surgery, setting out the minimum necessary steps in a complex medical process. The benefits have been impressive, and as Atul Gawande notes in
The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right
:

The most common obstacle to effective teams, it turns out, is not the occasional fire-breathing, scalpel-flinging, terror-inducing surgeon, though some do exist…. No, the more familiar and widely dangerous issue is a kind of silent disengagement, the consequence of specialized technicians sticking narrowly to their domains.
⁴

Gawande argues that checklists can help bring individuals together, ensuring that nothing will fall between the cracks in an important team effort.

In
The Leader's Checklist
, Michael Useem extends the concept beyond military and hospital environments to the behavioral sciences. With an innovative approach, Useem identifies fifteen
Mission Critical Principles
distilled from his extensive research and personal experience.

The core principles specified in
The Leader's Checklist
are generally applicable to any leadership situation. But Useem goes one step further, explaining how the checklist can be tailored to account for the specific challenges faced by an individual leader.
⁵

I have found that the process of creating a
Team Checklist
can, in itself, be an important tool for team development. As we prepared to write this book, our team sat down to plan the mission. We systematically outlined our goals and aspirations. Laura Gardner, our “Pit Man” made a
Countdown Calendar
and taped it to the wall of the conference room. We embellished the calendar with photos of the
Midnight Rambler
and—as a final touch—we added a picture of Indiana Jones running from a giant boulder. Laura taped Indiana right next to the deadline for the manuscript.

We then outlined team and individual responsibilities, thinking through—as thoroughly as we could—everything that needed to be done to complete the book. With an eye toward
removing all excuses for failure
, we also took into account everything that could go wrong in our planning process.

At one point, we added a simple checklist using a format borrowed from the military: the Five Paragraph Order. Using the
S-M-E-A-C
template, we reviewed the equivalents of our:

 

1.  
Situation:
Enemy forces, friendly forces, adjacent units, and supporting units

2.  
Mission:
Goal of the operation

3.  
Execution:
How we will accomplish the mission

4.  
Administration and Logistics:
Food, ammunition, batteries, and POWs

5.  
Command and Signal:
Radio frequencies and emergency signals

 

Tailoring the operation order to our situation called for some creative juggling with metaphor. But we had fun and, in the process, created our own
Team Checklist
.

I recently observed a large manufacturing firm go through the process of a major organizational restructuring. The company had experienced significant financial losses, and the CEO believed that the new design would help the company become more competitive and cost-effective.

The head of human resources decided to keep the new structure a closely held secret until it was publicly announced. His reasoning was that there was no need to create unnecessary anxiety. But the secrecy policy meant that a number of significant players in the organization would be given no warning. They would simply wake up one morning to find themselves reporting to a new boss, in a completely new organizational structure.

When concerns were raised about the impact of the surprise, the HR leader had little sympathy for those affected. His view was that anyone caught off guard needed to act like a “grown-up” and get with the program. There was work to be done.

For those who had expressed concern, it came as no surprise that the preemptive change created shock waves throughout the organization. Although people were expected to calmly and logically endorse the new structure, they didn't always act like the grown-ups they were expected to be. They acted like anyone whose work life and future prospects had been unexpectedly disrupted. They reacted with anger, anxiety, and—frequently—resentment.

On a sailboat, wind shifts or other events frequently require a change in direction. Because of the potential problems that can occur when sailors are caught off guard, there is a standard protocol for making sure everyone knows what is happening. This well-established process is described in his classic sailing book,
The Annapolis Book of Seamanship
, by John Rousmaniere.
⁶

Rousmaniere outlines the sequence for tacking—that is, changing course—very clearly.

It's important that the skipper and crew communicate clearly during a tack. Here are the orders and responses they should use:

STEERER
: “Ready about” or “Stand by to tack.”

CREW
: “Ready” (when everything has been prepared for the maneuver).

STEERER
: “Hard a-lee” or “Helm's c-lee” (indicating that the tiller or wheel has been turned and that the sail will swing to the other side of the boat).

In a light breeze, the tacking maneuver might be accomplished without proper preparation. Lines might be snarled and there could be confusion, but usually no one would get hurt. In heavy weather, however, this same maneuver might well mean that an unprepared crew member could be caught off guard, smashed in the head, and knocked over the side unconscious.

The easiest way to avoid accidents, and to make sure that the boat quickly and efficiently moves to the new course, is to use the protocol—to give people a warning with the simple phrase:
Ready about
. This enables the crew to prepare physically and psychologically for the new course.

The HR team in the manufacturing organization knew that they were going to be heading on a new course. They knew exactly when the public announcements were going to occur, and they understood the implications for their jobs. But they were astonished to find that crew members on their metaphorical vessel were angry when the boat abruptly swung to a new course. They didn't understand the importance of preparing both the boat and the crew.

AFR Midnight Rambler
has other systems in place for planning and preparation. While Ed Psaltis is focused on steering, others are thinking about the sea conditions and sail requirements for the next leg of the race. And their ability to look ahead was critical to their success in the '98 storm.

The
wave spotter
did much more than protect the steerer from the onslaught of the weather. He also ensured that the boat would be ready for the next big wave. At the height of a violent storm, maneuvering a boat through one monster wave after another requires incredible focus. That requirement creates a dangerous dilemma: The singular focus means that the helmsman may see only the waves directly in front of the boat, while losing sight of what lies ahead.

Teams in organizations that are navigating through a crisis run similar risks. They face the danger of solving imminent problems in ways that eliminate long-term opportunities. Successful teams master the art of
bifocal vision:
They have the ability to focus on current challenges while, at the same time, preparing for longer-term threats and opportunities.

After watching a presentation of the
AFR Midnight Rambler
story, one of our clients developed a
wave spotter
system designed to help their team focus on the next wave challenge—while never losing sight of the one behind it. They are preparing and racing at the same time.

Sailors getting ready to do the Hobart understand that it makes sense to prepare for the worst. But I was somewhat surprised when the skipper of my boat, Goldy, turned to one of the watch captains and asked, “Do we have enough morphine?” The last time I had heard that question asked was in the Marine Corps.

I was also struck by the various checklists posted on the inside of the cabin:
Man down Procedure—Unconscious or Severely Injured, Helicopter Transfer
, and
Recovery from Capsize
. I first wondered if perhaps things had gone too far when I read the protocol for
Piracy Attack
(Do not fight back once they are on board). But on reflection, I couldn't see any harm in being ready for anything and everything.

What stood out for me was the extent to which crews prepare for the worst, yet also pay attention to the small things. The stove that Gordon Livingstone polished on the
Rambler
was not a critical part of equipment for either racing or survival. Yet it was important, because it symbolized the extent of their careful preparation and helped instill a sense of confidence on the part of the crew. The Ramblers knew that everything on the boat was as shipshape as it could possibly be. And the stove had another effect as well. Competitors who see the stove being polished have absolutely no doubt about the intensity of the Ramblers' desire to win.

Teams facing challenges need to prepare for every contingency, and they need to think about the big things. But they also need to be aware of the small things that symbolize careful preparation. They need to send a clear message that they intend to win and that they are willing to polish the stove.

Joe Louis, one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time, famously remarked, “Everyone has a plan until they've been hit.” While planning and preparation are important, not everything can be anticipated—especially at
The Edge
.

This point was brought home to me by General Richard Natonski, who was Commanding General of the 1st Marine Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom II. He was responsible for leading more than 30,000 Marines, soldiers, sailors, airmen, and coalition forces in a highly stressful combat operation.
⁶

In the fall of 2004, General Natonski was given the mission of preparing for a second assault on the city of Fallujah. An earlier attempt had come to a premature halt, and by September of 2004 the city had grown into a sanctuary for insurgents who launched attacks in Baghdad and elsewhere—returning to Fallujah to rest, rearm, and plan their next round of attacks.