Achieving Flow in Team Management : 5 Sports Metaphors to Consider

The early bird gets the worm

There is only one first place winner. Speed is clearly the secret of success whether you are running a race or racing to launch a new product line.  Or is it? Anne is marketing manager for PureDream, a small (fictional) organic cosmetics company.  Last year her team designed a trendy campaign for PureDream lipstick which boosted company-wide sales by 30%.  This spring, PureDream is expanding the line with six new shades, and Anne’s team planned to merely tweak last year’s successful campaign. Then she learned a chief competitor is poised to enter the lipstick market. PureDream’s CEO asked Anne to push the deadline up in a preemptive marketing strike with “something bold and exciting.” Should Anne’s team move quickly, adapting last year’s strategy, or slow down to wait and see what the competition does in order to produce a careful tactical response?

Haste makes waste 

Rushing through a task without control spells disaster for a race-car driver navigating hairpin turns. If you watch the clock, you can’t do your best. Careful control is often the real secret to success. PureDream’s lipstick line took 2 years to develop; the sales launch campaign was carefully crafted over a period of months.  Anne meets with her team to discuss the new lipstick campaign and explains the dilemma.  Which is more important, speed or control?

The answer, as often in real life:  “It depends.” 

To decide whether speed or control are more important for a particular project, it helps to think in terms of sports performance.  Imagine your project as a race car.  The steering wheel is control and the gas pedal is speed. You need both. To avoid accidents and obstacles, slow down and run the course thoughtfully.  If you need to pass just one competitor on a simple straightaway, punch it. The trouble is most projects are somewhere in between. How many cars in the race and what is your position? Is the track wet or dry? Has your rival been having a problem with traction? Is that new hybrid electronic control system bugging?

And as long as you’re thinking about your project in terms of sports metaphors, why not contemplate the ultimate goal:  to help your project team reach a state of flow.  The concept introduced in 1975 by Hungarian psychologist Csíkszentmihályi Mihály has been applied to virtually every type of human activity. It’s often easiest to understand in sports, because so many joggers have experienced ‘runners high’ or ‘being in the zone.’  Achieving flow requires striking a balance between the challenges of the task and the skill of the performers. In other words, speed and control need to be adjusted in order to discover the optimal equilibrium between difficulty and ease.

The following sports analogies can help you determine the best balance between speed or control:

1. What are the rules of the game? How do you score points? Acceleration is important in downhill racing but slow precision is key in golf.  Imagine a giant 12-inch  ruler with the precise control required for golf at 12 inches and the high speed of super G skiers at 0.  Now move the pointer until it feels right for your project.  When you allocate advertising budgets for product lines the pointer will be around 2 inches (speed) but if you match consumer profiles to a target market you will be at 11 inches (control).  A big chain hotel in Rio needs to open by a specific date for the Olympics (speed).  A boutique hotel in Bordeaux has to make sure everything is perfect and avoid bad reviews on TripAdvisor (control).   Anne’s team puts the PureDream lipstick campaign at 4 inches, because it has a proven track record from last year and the lipstick segment generates product loyalty: women don’t like to change once they find something they like.
2. How dangerous is this game? What is the worst that can happen if I crash from too much speed?  Death? (I lose my job). injury? (I lose my customer). Scraped up knees? (I have to apologize to my staff). When you weigh the risk of going fast versus proceeding with caution, consider the worst possible outcome.  Is your project more like Tour de a France or Freestyle BMX?  A radical new ‘shark fin’ bike seat will no doubt elicit jokes that may actually create social media buzz and benefit your brand awareness.  A catastrophic bicycle race accident involving expensively engineered hydraulic disc brakes could require serious crisis management for your company.   The PureDream lipstick campaign was so successful last year, it pulled in new customers to try other product lines.  Ann’s Team thinks a worst case scenario could be overall market share drop, but they can also count on momentum from last year and brand loyalty.  
3. What kinds of protection can I use to lower my risk?  Can I reduce risk in a high speed crash by wearing a helmet, knee pads or have a back up plan? Is my project more like ice hockey or figure skating? Do I have time to re-do my marketing plan if my customers hate it?   With a little forethought, you can probably add some safety while increasing speed.  Can you fine-tune your product or your website after launch using customer feedback?  Can you test-market your new golf putter design in just one city or arrange a soft opening for your restaurant to tweak menus and train employees?PureDream already has extremely high product release safety margins, due to the inspection and certification process for organic labels.  Anne’s team discusses risk scenarios and decides the biggest danger they face is the new competitor stealing market share due to a superior product or lower price.  To reduce this threat they could choose to wait for the competitor’s launch and respond appropriately.  Alternatively, a team member suggests they add some insurance by creating a back up with coupon reductions and an ad campaign centered around a promising fair-trade Argan oil from Morocco with a variant on the successful lipstick themes.
4. Is this a sprint or a marathon?  Keep in mind that a marathon runner has to manage pace; it feels unnatural to run slower at the beginning of a race in order to conserve energy.  Think about the complexity of your project. Speed is often more important on simple projects. That shark-fin bike seat launch requires less planning than an entire new e-bike model.  Anne asked each of her team members to come up with a few ideas for refreshing last year’s campaign with the new lipstick shades.  During the meeting, the team quickly agrees on one particular idea, a catchy new twist to last year’s theme.
5. Finally, who is watching and what are the stakes? How important will this race or project be one year from now? The Harlem Globetrotters playing a charity match have a different approach than the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Super Bowl. You may very well decide this project is not critically important to long term success; it could be an opportunity to work slowly and meticulously in order to train your team for a future project with tighter deadlines.  Anne’s team brainstormed about how last year's lipstick theme could be adapted to other product lines.  Groups of two were created to work on each idea. The lipstick group quickly finalized a proposal for presentation to the CEO and the others decided to take an extra week to develop proposals for print, in-store and internet promotions on the PureDream moisturizers, cleansers and body oils.  Meeting over; pizza time!

The team analyzed its lipstick project and decided it was best to favor speed, but only if they could come up with a fresh idea.  Luckily, that is exactly what they did. They agreed the threat to market share was serious but the CEO specifically requested a rush campaign.  As a precaution, Anne’s team decided to develop a few back-up plans.  

By the end of the meeting, the entire team was energized and happy.  Although the meeting ran late nobody fidgeted or complained.  Anne noted that even the least enthusiastic member of the team was smiling and contributing. Anne successfully challenged the skills of her team and balanced speed with control. They were in flow.

Csíkszentmihályi described flow as "being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you're using your skills to the utmost."  Sounds like a great way for your team to work, doesn't it?