Dragon boats and running a firm: What business can learn from this unusual sport
A dragon boat team has to work in the same direction. If the paddles don’t hit the water at the same time, they knock each other, creating inefficiency.
If you don’t reach far enough with the paddles, they don’t deliver enough power and the boat goes slower. If not deep enough, then you are wasting energy and power. Every person has to work in sync.
It’s the same in business. If the marketing department is not delivering the right kind of leads to sales, or if sales are not following leads up quickly enough, or the technical teams are not ready with the right technical skills, then the business fails. The two things are close to my heart: I’m managing director of MSM Software Solved, and a member of the UK’s dragon boat racing team.
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Dragon boats require everyone to operate as one team in the most efficient and interconnected way possible. Indeed, it goes deeper than that: every person must understand their roles and how they will individually contribute to success.
For example, the dragon boat comprises three parts: there’s the front of the boat which manages the stroke. The individuals there set the timing for everyone else to follow. The middle of the boat is the “engine room” – that’s where the strength is. The back of the boat is where the lighter people sit. This section has the technical skill and does most of the work at the start line to ensure the team gets the best start possible.
I apply this approach to business. For me, the make-up of the best software development teams is very similar to the make-up of the dragon boat team. They understand their role, and the team work together with the end goal firmly in mind.
Golden rule
Like so many firms out there, we are gearing up for growth. Key to this expansion is ensuring that our in-house teams operate at optimum levels and embrace collaborative working. Just like with my dragon boat squad, responsibility for achieving goals must be shared.
The most important element for achieving this – both on and off the water – is trust. Trust that you have each others’ backs and trust that we are all striving to bring incremental improvements to every part of the same development process.
At base level, in Team GB, this trust is that we all eat well and prioritise training. In the office environment, it means that we trust the selection of teams, and that we individually work to impress our peers by looking at issues in a dynamic way – we don’t simply re-purpose what we have done before, but look for solutions that innovate. This approach keeps teams agile and motivated, and results in exacting solutions for clients.
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And a note on team selection: I have also learnt from sport that the most obvious team selection is not always the best. Consider, for instance, actively putting together a team that on-paper really shouldn’t work, and you will gain some valuable insight.
Lean rigour
If I look back at myself eight months ago, I was carrying too much weight and was good at short sprints on the water, but could not sustain long training. With serious training (I’m talking hours in the gym) and the dedication to deliver winning results for myself and the team, I feel like I have proved that anything is achievable.
I believe this rigour ought to be applied to workplace teams too. You need to encourage a team to have the self-belief that they can do it, and you do this by leading the way and showing that it can be done.