While watching “The Boys in the Boat” movie recently, I saw parallels between the strategies and management of the junior varsity rowing team at the University of Washington in 1936 and the execution of a business strategic plan.
To maximize the potential of the eight rowers and the coxswain, the right people have to be in each one of the eight seats in the racing shell.
During the training and evaluation of the potential crews, the coaches assessed the strengths and weaknesses of each combination of crew members. Their goal was to identify the best balance between the crew members. After several changes in crew members, they found the eight men that could best work together.
Then the challenge was to find the best person to lead these men. The coach took the coxswain from the varsity team to lead the junior varsity team. Was this a demotion? No, he realized this person was the best person to lead this team to victory.
The result of this management change was total alignment of effort, the JV squad was better than the Washington varsity team, and they achieved their biggest goal, a victory over their main competition: the University of California rowing team.
But this same group of eight men went even further, onward to qualify for the 1936 Olympics and then they won the gold medal in Berlin.
So, what does eight men rowing in unison have to do with strategic planning? It’s all about “alignment” in effort and goals. So, how do we learn from this story and apply it to our businesses?
First, you need to have the right people in each seat of your boat pulling in the same direction for you to be successful.
In order to assemble the right people, you need current and complete job descriptions. This will permit you to evaluate and select the right applicants for the open seats in your boat. In the movie, they needed one person who would set the pace for the others to follow. They positioned this person in the boat so the other men could see him setting the pace. Once this leader was in place, they assembled the necessary support staff.
Second, you need the right person to motivate this team in the achievement of their personal and team goals.
By assigning an experienced coxswain to the junior varsity team, they found the person who would set the necessary pace and implement the strategies needed to achieve their goal, a winning team. In the movie, his consistent leadership provided the guidance they needed to overcome the challenges they faced.
Third, you need alignment in the team goals so everyone is working toward the same outcome, a win for the company.
By selecting the best rowers and placing them in the right seats in the boat, they gained the needed alignment in effort. Instead of rowing against each other, they rowed as a team under the coxswain’s guidance. You need to have the right managers in each position in your organization and their departmental goals need to support the achievement of the overall corporate goals. This is when you have alignment. No one is rowing against each other; they are all rowing in the same direction.
Part of any strategic planning process is a reevaluation of the leadership of the company. Do we have the right managers and leaders in the right seats to drive the company to victory? If not, it is time to make the needed changes to build that alignment we need to achieve the agreed upon goals. Strategic planning is designed to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats within and from the environment in which we conduct our businesses. Once those weaknesses and threats are identified, action needs to be taken. In the movie, they assessed the rowers’ abilities and how best to position them in the boat to maximize the boat’s potential. They changed coxswains in order to have the right leadership for the boat.
When it came time to compete in each race, they knew the strengths and weaknesses of each opponent. Who would take the lead first, who could come from behind and who would set the pace. In one race, they knew they had to set the pace and take the lead immediately. In another, they waited to pick up the pace and catch the leader and win the race going away. In the final race during the Olympics, they had to overcome a delay due to a misunderstood command from the starter. They made the necessary adjustment, picked up the pace, and won the race in a photo finish.
Marking adjustments in strategy is another important part of the strategic planning process. So, you need to constantly monitor your competitive environment for changes that would impact your plan. Stagnation is your enemy; you need to keep moving forward and adjusting to the changing currents in the competitive waters, and you will win the gold as the University of Washington’s 1936 crew team did in the Olympics.
