Chasing Teamership (Part I)

The podcast Chasing Scratch is nominally a podcast about a couple of amateur golfers sharing their progress on an ambitious goal. On the surface, it has little to do with my work - or probably yours. However, I have come to realise that it is much more. I have been reflecting recently on some connections that I hope are useful for you.

Here are a few things that I think are relevant from Mike and Eli Chasing Scratch to me Chasing Teamership to and your team Chasing [INSERT YOUR TEAM’S LOFTY ASPIRATION].

Please note: If you’re a Chasing Scratch listener and not up to date, there are some very minor spoilers below.

Only 1% of golfers achieve their goal

The goal of the show is to pursue a handicap that only 1% of golfers globally achieve. That made Mike & Eli’s pursuit difficult and objectively speaking, statistically unlikely from the offset.

In my world of Chasing Teamership, most small businesses don’t survive the first few years. In the work that I do, most teams do not succeed (at least if success is sustainable high performance).

That’s the point. In both instances, the difficulty and rarity of the outcome is why it is valuable.

Lesson for your team: There is value in being prepared to pursue unlikely outcomes. It comes with risks and rewards. Be honest with each other about whether you are prepared for it.

The Chase

When the hosts are at their best, they embrace the pursuit of their goal and prioritise “growth over outcomes” as their mental coach, Dr J has encouraged them to do. They have regular lapses of focusing on short term goals at the expense of the longer term development, which we could characterise as the exact opposite, “outcomes over growth”.

This is common for most leaders and teams.

Having ways to maintain the balance between short and long term goals is something we are all likely to benefit from. If we have ways to focus on the chase - and on growth over outcomes - we set ourselves and our teams up for long term success.

The lesson: High performance is in the process of pursuing great outcomes - not the outcomes themselves.

Learning to manage the tension between not being where you want to be, but accepting where you are is a great skill for all of us to develop in our teams.

The need for optimism The setbacks that are inherent in the pursuit of an ambitious target require optimism and energy to overcome - or at least to maintain the pursuit. A tagline on the show’s website is:

Two guys. One goal. Unlimited optimism.

I’m not convinced about the unlimited optimism. They have documented points along the way where they have abandoned the goal or lost the belief that they are capable. Those are generally the (entertaining!) exceptions. Mike and Eli have each demonstrated significant resilience on their quest and it translates for our teams.

The lesson: Expect setbacks - and have a way to keep showing up.

My favourite lens to consider this is Hope Theory. I have written about that before, but the essence is that our teams can maintain hope, energy and optimism as a function of:

• Goals – Something meaningful to achieve.
• Pathways – Different ways to achieve our goals.
• Agency – The belief that we can take the actions to achieve these goals.

The community

Perhaps the most inspiring part of the podcast is how it has grown beyond its initial scope. The podcast has created a community. I am part way through reading Tribe of Learning by Col Fink, which defines a tribe as “a group of people assembled behind a common purpose”. Teams benefit from meeting Col’s definition of a tribe.

Whether by design or beautiful accident, Mike and Eli have most certainly created a tribe around the pursuit of improving their golf. It is no surprise that along the way, they have developed personally and created an environment where others can commit to growth over outcomes.

The lesson: Sharing your experience of learning and development is an undervalued way to engage, inspire and energise others. Once we do that, our potential impact becomes greater than most of us imagine. It is also a more engaging experience for all members.

With Chasing Scratch as a lunching pad, I will continue to reflect on a few things that can help each of us in Chasing Teamership over the coming weeks.

A few questions for you to consider this week:

• What meaningful, but challenging goal is your team pursuing?
• Does your team prioritise growth over outcomes?
• How could apply the components of Hope Theory (goals, pathways, agency) in your teams?
• Is your team “a group of people assembled behind a common purpose”?

Go well - or maybe I can get away with one more LGLG!

Keegan