Missing the Mark By "Just" One Degree
Where EXACTLY is Your Team Going?
Photo Credit Sailboat Coaching International
When we are crossing the Atlantic starting from say, Halifax, one degree is the difference between ending up in Africa or in England.
Now, if you have a little bit of geography you may remember that Gibraltar is further south than the main part of England, so the separation is might be less than some first imagined, but it is still miles apart and worlds away!
And context matters too when you are choosing where to go or where to be. When we think of Morocco we think of Camels, Berbers, Mint Tea, and Casa Blanca. When we think of Gibraltar, we think of the most British Brits, miles of underground fortress, fish & chips.
Both destinations are worth exploring. But if you sight land off the African coast, and you told your crew you were taking them to see the rock of Gibraltar, or you told them they could walk to Spain from where the boat would dock and you are seeing Casa Blanca you have missed the mark in a big way! What seemed like only one degree at the beginning of your voyage now becomes miles of rough sailing in waters clogged with heavy commercial traffic between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
It is the same in our organizations. The more clearly you understand what it is we are setting out to do the more accurately you can steer a course that will take your team there.
And I will say this, in all of my years of coaching and working with teams, I have never yet met an organization that was clear enough on its identity and purpose that more efficiency could be a meaningful next step! Context is important here, so I will add that I have worked in a coaching and team building capacity with some of the highest performing originations you can name. So, if you have worked with a team that was all of the way dialed in on your effectiveness, where you have deep clarity on how each little thing you do contributes to the overall mission, and what about the mission is important to the world, I would dearly love to meet your team!
Photo Credit Sailboat Coaching International
Following A Plan
When we are teaching sailors of any level to steer a course (or follow a plan) we keep repeating Make Your Adjustments Small, Early, and OFTEN! This gives you the most effective path to your destination. It’s smoother, its faster, cleaner, and it makes us look like we are doing it on purpose! If you’ve never sailed a boat, but you have driven car, this a little like the difference between wandering all over the road, and driving easily up the middle of your lane like an expert. It requires some practice, and some of your attention, and always your presence in the present moment. You will just have to trust me when I say that changing wave shapes and variable wind speeds and directions adds complexity in a way that demand increasing amounts of your attention. Because of this complexity with its ever changing levels of unpredictability, driving a boat feels more like driving a business forward than driving a car ever will.
Making a Plan
When we are teaching sailors of any level to choose a destination (define your mission, goals, objectives as an organization) it is more interactive. We give ourselves more time because we are now choosing between futures we imagine. There are a lot more options, and there are no wrong answers, only answer which are a better or best fit for our team. We need to know our team. Who are we? How important are camels to our needs? Do we want fish and chips? Or need mint tea? Is there room for a Moorish carpet somewhere in our ship? Will we be heading North to Copenhagen or, South to round the Cape of Good Hope? Or do we cross into the Mediterranean Sea and sail the Greek Island they Odysseus navigated from Ithaca to fight in the Trojan war?
Wherever you and your organization go, the clearer you are on your plan and what is important about it to each member of your team, the better your chances are of steering the course which will take you there!
Where does the magic start? Do I need to do all of the work before there can be magic?