Why Rowing?
You may have noticed there’s a lot of rowing visuals in our work. If you have assumed it's about a team all pulling together… then you are right!
Well, rowing is actually all about pushing, but that’s for another time. But yes, rowing is a perfect teamwork and leadership metaphor, and, like the River Medway (where one of the founders lives), it’s a lot deeper than you think.
More than the sum of its parts
Team rowing relies on everyone in the boat knowing their part, and the part of others. To oversimplify, rowers in seats 1 and 2 balance the boat and must be smooth in their technique. Seats 3,4,5 and 6 are the “engine room” and should be big and strong. Seats 7 and 8 are the stern pair, with number 8 setting the rhythm that others must follow, while communicating to the cox who is “the eyes and ears” of the boat. A handy guide to rowing can be found here, but you get the point. Everyone plays a different, but equal part in a team, and it’s the coming together of all those different skills, styles and preferences which make it more than the sum of its parts. Which brings us to the next point.
“The spirit of teamwork transcends a person’s ego”
World Rowing has shared insights into important lessons rowers have learnt, and they listed trust, dedication, selflessness, determination, honesty and commitment as the most commonly identified. Selflessness is an interesting one. Team rowers know that they can’t reach their goal alone and seek out ways to improve communication and team alignment. To quote World Rowing, it is a lesson in “how the spirit of teamwork transcends a person’s ego.”
Look back and learn
An obvious point, but rowers don’t face forward. In a great Medium article, Jutta Lachenauer, leader of executive communications for Artificial Intelligence at SAP, points out that rowers can’t see the finishing line, and must rely on the cox to steer them. She writes, “while we know in which direction we are heading, the waters and currents towards the goal are changing.” She explains that in business, not seeing what’s ahead is common. Looking back also facilitates reflection and iteration of ideas to reach the goal.
Go fast, go together
That moment that your crew gets in sync, and you feel the boat pull away is incredible. We have both rowed a few times and the first time we experienced this feeling we remember gasping. The difference between a group of people with oars, trying to make the boat move, and that moment of exhilaration when the group (and oars) all come together and you are speeding down a river is…. breathtaking. When we work well as a team, we go faster, for longer.
To us this metaphor so brilliantly describes what we, at Go Slow to Go Fast™, believe you can achieve with your team. And as Lachenauer so beautifully puts it, “Focusing on leadership qualities that emphasize collaboration, an open mindset and clear communications can guide your team boat through all types of changing waters to the finishing line.”
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