The Boys in the Boat

Photo courtesy of University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, UW2234, available at: http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/fivering_circus/2012/07/_1936_olympics_rowing_the_greatest_underdog_nazi_defeating_american_olympic_victory_you_ve_never_heard_of_.html

If you like to read even a little, and you naturally root for the underdog, then have I got a great book to recommend: The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, by Daniel James Brown.  Yes, it’s true that it’s non-fiction and that you know the ending before you begin (but, then, so did the millions who went to see the film, Titanic, which had a much less uplifting close, and which still managed to trigger tears for many viewers who already knew what was coming!)

Having finished a great read on the flight out (In One Person. By John Irving), I asked my Santa Barbara innkeeper for directions to a bookstore.  Chaucer’s was the now-too-rare bookstore where the staff is eager to share in an unhurried manner what they’ve recently read and loved.  I ended up carrying an extra bag to accommodate my winnowed down selections.

Like most Americans my age, I knew the Jesse Owens story well, but was unfamiliar with much of the context within which his victory occurred—and certainly was unfamiliar with the story of America’s Gold Medal in rowing, the second most popular sport in the world at that time.  As their gripping story unfolds, the rag-tag team from Washington State brings us with them through the many hurdles they had to overcome to get to the Olympics and win the Gold.  In the process, we also learn about the America of their day, boatbuilding, the rise of Hitler and a host of fascinating subjects cleverly woven in.

The theme of my work for 30 years has been Purpose and Harmony.  The English immigrant who built the winning racing shell, George Pocock, was also a great coach to coaches, emphasizing those very themes at every opportunity:  “Harmony, balance, and rhythm.  They’re the three things that stay with you your whole life.  Without them civilization is out of whack.  And that’s why an oarsman, when he goes out in life, he can fight it, he can handle life.  That’s what he gets from rowing.”

There is something that happens in all great teams when its members merge into something larger and greater, performing collectively as one.  The author describes when this occurs in rowing:

There is a thing that sometimes happens in rowing that is hard to achieve and hard to define.  Many crews, even winning crews, never really find it.  Others find it but can’t sustain it. It’s called “swing.”  It only happens when all eight oarsmen are rowing in such perfect unison that no single action by any is out of synch with those of all the others.  It’s not just that the oars enter and leave the water at precisely the same instant.  Sixteen arms must begin to pull, sixteen knees must begin to fold and unfold, eight bodies must begin to slide forward and backward, eight backs must bend and straighten all at once.  Each minute action—each subtle turning of wrists—must be mirrored exactly by each oarsman, from one end of the boat to the other.  Only then will the boat continue to run, unchecked, fluidly and gracefully between pulls of the oars.  Only then will it feel as if the boat is a part of each of them, moving as if on its own.  Only then does pain entirely give way to exultation.  Rowing then becomes a kind of perfect language.  Poetry, that’s what a good swing feels like.

  

Help Explore Rob's Observation about Teams

At the recent launch of my new book, HUM, I invited participants to raise questions they would like to see addressed by me and blog followers in the coming weeks.  One friend, Rob, wrote in a follow up email:

With the best team on which I ever had the privilege to serve, my biggest concern was that I would let my teammates down. There was an inherent understanding that everyone supported a common purpose, as well as each other. However, it seems that is becoming increasingly rare. It seems that over time we value organizations/teams/communities less and less.  The sense of common purpose, community, and mutual responsibility to each other seems to be eroding in favor of individual performance and accomplishment.  In our neighborhoods, we know our neighbors less than previous generations did.  In our professional careers, we move from company to company vs. established careers with a single company.  How do we instill that common purpose to make our organizations "hum" if some partners simply weren't raised in an environment that emphasized shared purpose (or at least not to the same extent as others)?

Boy, Rob, you identify a really deep issue. It does seem that our parents and grandparents lived in a world where relationships lasted a very long time, including those with employers.  My own grandfather was able to raise a family and retire comfortably after 50 years of service with Ford Motor Company. 

One of the reasons I felt driven to write HUM is because we no longer live in that world of long-term relationships in which loyalty and trust develop over time.  Although we still yearn for that feeling of connectivity, we find it missing in our work, social, and personal relationships.  Why should we be loyal to an employer who would let us go without a moment’s thought if they needed to, regardless of how well we had performed for them?  Why should we pick up the pile of mail from the steps of a vacationing neighbor when we don’t even know him?  The world around us discourages connectivity while we continue to naturally crave it. 

Look around your workplace and among those your business touches for “kindred spirits,” then find ways to build connections with and among these individuals.  We have to be intentional about building these connections, not counting on them to develop naturally over long periods of time.  In fact, isn't this why Friday happy hours were invented?

Ideally, trust and respect are modeled by the leaders of an organization or team, creating a connective culture. If that is not the case where you work, then build a support network of people with whom you can feel that sense of mutual trust and loyalty.  Not only will you feel better about your work, but your team’s performance will dramatically improve.

Let’s hear from others about Rob’s observation that organizations don’t inspire long-term loyalty.  What are your thoughts about how to increase connectivity in an increasingly disjunctive world?

Recognizing and Celebrating Natural Connectives

In my recently released book, HUM, I describe Natural Connectives as people whose nature is to connect with other people, connect people to one another, and connect people to good ideas and resources that would be of value to them.  

I was just with my friend Magaly, who, like other Natural Connectives, creates synergy in everything she touches.  Observing how eagerly she offers connections to new ideas and friends reminded me of how valuable Natural Connectives are in the workplace as well as in one's life.  

Wise managers encourage their Natural Connectives to cross pollinate in every possible way.  They put them on multi-team task forces.  They send them to professional development sessions, knowing they'll  apply what they learned as well as freely share it with others.  Savvy managers encourage Natural Connectives to train with staff in other departments, knowing they’ll come back with fresh ideas and a greater understanding of how the whole organization functions.  And they count on Natural Connectives to help formulate new ideas and innovative yet practical solutions, understanding that Natural Connectives have a "sixth sense" for knowing what will work. Natural Connectives' DNA seems to be programmed to help groups achieve purpose and harmony.

Who are the Natural Connectives in your life and workplace?  How could you tap into their talents to benefit others?  If you lean toward being a Natural Connective yourself, observe others who have unleashed their gift to learn what they do well, then practice it yourself.  Appreciate and recognize the Natural Connectives you know, as they are not people who seek power, status, or praise.  Your acknowledgement of their contributions will mean so much to them.

Practicing Resiliency and Gratitude

When I came home to my cottage last night, I noticed pine branches littering my driveway, preventing me from being able to enter. Once I made my way up the cottage, I noticed a screen blown out of the porch door and a 40 pound plant moved across the porch. Hmmm.

I turned on a few lights and discovered heavy metal furniture had been tossed right off the deck. Uh-oh. I straightened up the best I could in the dark, looking forward to hearing from my neighbors in the morning about what kind of gust must have come through to create such a mess.

This morning, I awakened to a yard littered with fallen trees—fallen and transported from someone else’s property! (see photo) My neighbors reported that we were the lucky ones. Further down the island, boats had been blown out of the water and crushed into buildings, trees ripped from the ground and hurled through the air--one with such force that it went in one side of a building and out the other. They won't have phone service or power for a while.

That put today’s unplanned cleanup into perspective. Nobody injured. Even my osprey and barn swallow babies all survived. Just a real mess. Something I could handle.

As I was clearing debris, I couldn’t help thinking about how often this happens in organizations. Some unexpected storm blows in, you discover in stages how widespread the damage is--and then you have to put it into perspective, clean it up, and move on. This takes resiliency, and it is essential in these stormy times for both individuals and organizations. My colleague Al Siebert, author of The Survivor Personality, believes that resiliency can’t be taught, but it can be learned. I used today’s cleanup activities as practice in resiliency and gratitude that my damage hadn't been worse.

As you work toward building connectivity and achieving greater purpose and harmony in your organization, don’t forget to practice resiliency and gratitude. They will serve you well the next time an unexpected storm hits. And, hey, if you recognize the lob lolly pine in the photo as yours, contact me to claim it before I get to clearing that section!