Book of the Week: "When" by Daniel H. Pink

A few weeks ago, early on during quarantine, I read Daniel H. Pink's book "Drive" on motivation - what drives people to do what they do. A few quarantine weeks later, I picked up another Pink book "When" - focusing primarily on the timing of when things get done and when teams come together. It also explains why I suck on holes four, five, and six. But more on this later. 

All championship programs have many things in common. The first thing is the ability to coordinate with others in and across time. Last semester one of the things I was tasked with was working alongside another colleague to make sure all of our events were properly staffed and covered. Every Tuesday of the week, I would chat with my co-worker and ask where we stood with the week's games and where we needed assistance. Wherever we needed the assistance is the event I would be at - which actually in a few instances worked out well. 

Second, there was a saying my college coach used to say all the time "the team takes on the personality of the coach." At the time I really didn't think much of it, it just sounded good, but it actually makes a lot of sense. Pink uses the rowing position of the coxswain as an example of a group eight rowers syncing perfectly to a person who is oarless. The coxswain is not doin the work, but is essential to the boats speed and timing, just as the leader of a team / organization may not be doing the work but they are setting the tone of the organization. 

All great teams have the third feature: a sense of belonging. I remember working alongside our talented multimedia interns interviewing the women's swimming and diving coach for their "Meet The Coaches" segment. At a point during the interview, she mentioned her coaching philosophy and what drives her team "everyone has a role to play and should feel valued on our team; we take that very seriously." It is no wonder that her team has won four of the last six conference titles, took home 14 individual event championships last season and had the 15th best time in the nation in the 800-yard freestyle relay with a sub-seven minute time of 6:59.92. 

Having that sense of belonging to something greater makes people feel like they aren't alone. When everyone feels valued and appreciated, your team performs up better and in turn makes you look better as a coach and leader. 

The last part builds belonging and it's something that over the past four months due to the coronavirus pandemic we really haven't been able to do for fear of spreading the virus. It's the sense of touch. When you watch any sporting event (baseball, basketball, football), whenever player does something well you see the rest of the team congratulate them with fist bumps, handshakes, chest bumps, high-fives, etc. 

This is essential for team- and relationship-building. It's why at the end of a business agreement, we want to "shake on it" even if the other person says it's not necessary. We still want that bond that touch brings. Because of our current situation, this is something that has been reduced due to fears, but there are always creative ways around it. See the picture to the right of myself and runner-up from this year's club championship. Our pre-championship round handshake was a tap of the drivers before the match. 

And to leave you with what I teased in the first paragraph as to why I'm less then stellar on holes four, five and six. It's the phenomenon of midpoints. Ever work on a class group project that has a late due date? Everyone's first thought is 'oh we got time, this isn't due for awhile,' but sure it enough the halfway point approaches and people's thought process 'oh crap we have to get this done.' It's the same thing in other aspects of life. In the case of my golf game, I supposed my mind tends to wonder on the fourth and fifth holes, before I realize 'oh this is a game I'm playing, I should turn this around.' (Still happens a lot despite my acknowledgement of this happening.)