New Zealand has won the America’s Cup. They scored 7-2 against Great Britain. I watched all the races and was of course very interested in the teamwork and the way these teams communicate. It’s the highest level of sailing, like Formula 1 in auto racing. These teams have spend many millions to win the Auld Mug Trophy. There are cameras on board and these data are all streamed online. So I took 2 races and compared the communications between the 4 sailors in one boat. What’s special about these yachts is that there are 2 helmsmen and 2 guys trimming the sails and foils. The boats are so fast (over 100 km/hour) that there is no time to cross the boat to go to windward what you would do on a ‘normal’ sailing vessel. They solved this by having a helmsman and a trimmer at both sides of the sail. Left and right, or better: port and starboard. The one who has the best view (usually the one that’s sitting to windward) steers the boat. So when they tack or gybe the other one takes the wheel, the prompt is: my rudder, your rudder.
In my team coaching practice I emphasise that teams should look outside-in and from the future-back. My mentor and colleague Professor Peter Hawkins at Renewal Associates has written some excellent books about it. What does outside-in, future-back mean?
Many teams are pretty occupied with themselves: they struggle with the internal dynamics between team members and often roles and responsibilities are not clear. For many teams the desired result of their undertakings is not fully agreed upon. The idea of an outside-in approach is that you ask the key stakeholders of the team how you can (and should) add value to them. What they expect from the team today and in the future (future-back). Based on their answers you formulate the purpose, desired result, roles and responsibilities of the team and secondly how you are going to work together.
How does this relate to the communication of the two top teams in the America’s Cup? The desired result for both teams is pretty clear: win the Cup. To achieve this, you need to look outside the boat to see what is coming towards you: what is the wind doing in front of us? What is the other competitor doing? What do we expect him to do? What is our strategy towards the upcoming buoy? How do we sail best the next leg of the race? So you need to maximise your time to look outside.
Watching the YouTube channels, I notice that the Brits have a standardised communication protocol for manoeuvring. Before every tack or gybe, they say: ‘Standby’ and then after a few seconds: ‘2,1 board down’ followed by ‘3,2,1 main(-sail) coming’ and they close with ‘2, 1 board up’ and the skipper Sir Ben Ainslie quite often gives a compliment to the crew how the tack or gybe went: ‘nice guys’. It’s a structured approach and everybody is kept in the loop what needs to be done.
Team New Zealand does it differently: ‘2, 1 board down’ is the only thing they are saying in their manoeuvres (tacking/gybing)! While tacking or gybing they are discussing already their next moves. They have automated their manoeuvres completely and don’t have to talk while executing them. Their heads (and attention) are already outside the boat noticing what the wind and their competitor is doing in the midst of every manoeuvre! When speeds are so high, you need every second to pay attention and share what’s happening around you. Meaning: limiting internally focused communication to the max. They trust that their teammate knows when to raise the board.
It strikes me that Team New Zealand is constantly talking. They are sharing what they are seeing the wind is doing, what they expect the other boat will do, what buoy they plan to round and where to go the next leg. There seems to be little structure in their communication, they just share everything. Not waiting till the other one has finished his sentence, quite often they talk all at the same time. The effect is that they create a ‘shared consciousness‘: every one knows what’s going on and then it’s clear to all when to tack. It’s not needed to say ‘Standby’. But for an outsider it’s pretty hard to understand everything what’s being said.
In contrast the communication of the Brits is way more structured and around Sir Ben. It’s the ‘hub and spoke’ model of leadership. He gets the information to decide what their next move should be. There is less talking and more silence. He is asking the person at the other side of the sail: ‘How does it look?’ and gets the answer: ‘It looks good’ or ‘Looking pretty similar.’ But that’s not the data you’re looking for. It’s an irrelevant judgment. Apart from this, most of their conversation is about what’s happening in the moment: ‘We’re in a nice windshift,’ ‘There is less wind here,’ or ‘They are tacking.’ That is important but you want your team to look outside the boat and sense what is going to happen: future-back.
I’ll dive deeper into this to see the relevance for the teams I’m working with. It’s already a great story to share and together with the teams I’ll start inquiring into the communication they are having themselves. How often do you talk about the world outside the team? And do you share what you sense that’s coming towards the team?
Pictures by Ricardo Pinto/America’s Cup and Ian Roman/America’s Cup
Nice observation Hein
Dank Freark!