Drawing Parallels: Tiger Safari to Managing High Performing Marketing Teams

I was recently away to Jim Corbett National Park, a well known forested wildlife sanctuary for spotting Tigers. It is in the national park, “Project Tiger India” was incorporated to protect the most endangered species - The Royal Bengal Tiger. The park spans over 520 square kms in area and comprises of hills, marshy depressions, riverine belts, grasslands, lakes and a river flowing through the park.

The park is also home to several elephants and a wide variety of birds. Ornithologists and naturalists  flock the park as much as Tiger and elephant enthusiasts to spot the wildlife in its natural habitat. The tiger is a majestic animal  and they generate a huge adrenaline rush when you spot them in the wild very similar to designing and executing a successful marketing campaign for a new product in the market. 

While I was in the national park and was going through a forced digital detox (as no cell signal is available in the forest or the guest house you are staying at inside the park) I was thinking about the team managing the safari to spot the tiger is akin to managing high performing teams. I got to see a few similarities - Passion, Patience, Persistence, Teamwork and having Fun (PPPTF) while doing all this.

Passion: Your team on your tiger safari usually comprises a multi-talented driver, who can drive on all kind’ve roads, an all knowledge guide who knows how to track, see and learn from the paw marks and tourists (like you and I). The team managing your safari are extremely passionate about spotting a Tiger for himself as much as for you (the tourist). Spotting tiger is what they do everyday and their passion never wanes and the sight of a tiger never stops fascinating them. It is similar to a marketing team being passionate about what they do everyday irrespective of if they are involved in running similar events and which look to deliver the same outcome. For example, the talent  marketing team works closely with the people (recruitment) team, offices and the D&I team to design a program aimed at women who are looking to come back to a full-time role after a career break. ThoughtWorks runs a similar program called Vapasi and last year we had 8 editions of vapasi across their 7 offices in India. The marketing team ensured that every batch had the right audience identified and shortlisted (despite it being the same program but being scaled across the organisation). The team can execute this time after time only if they are passionate about the larger intent and their role. This is similar to the driver and the guide who are enthusiastic about every tiger they spot (even if it's the same Tiger in the consecutive day). 

Patience: Tiger safari means having patience. It is waiting at watering holes or where they were last spotted or where the guide or the driver can track them. It's about not losing focus on the goal of spotting a tiger and wait patiently for the tiger to be seen. Similarly when we have the launch of a product/ service the marketing team needs to have patience to test the new messages in the market, see if it makes sense to the personas they want to educate or reach. For example, when it comes to Account Based Marketing (ABM), executives of must-grow accounts we want to educate or nurture will need to be pursued and influenced with patience. There is no golden bullet on what approach will work. Ensuring to tailor the message for the target audience solves a problem that they are facing and constantly communicating (for top of mind) will help in identifying opportunities for upsell and cross-sell. Without waiting for the right moment, neither can you spot a Tiger or an opportunity. 

Persistence: The driver in the tiger safari is more persistent than an obsessed lover. He is dead intent on ensuring you get to see a big cat on the safari. He hates to see the tourist despondent over not seeing a big cat in the wild. He and the guide will pull all stops for you to sight the cat. The driver keeps exploring, hears the calls, and goes through the same dusty roads (leaving the other jeeps biting the dust literally) persistently till we sight the cat. Same is the case with marketing teams as well; persistence is key. If one campaign fails or an ABM program did not make the intended result, a high performing team does not give up. Instead they keep at it, with permutation and combinations to the message, tactics, channel mix till the intended message reaches the target audience. Persistence at a time when a team hasn't received any outcomes and still keeping at it and giving their 100% hoping for success, are the hallmarks of great teams. 

Teamwork: The guide and the driver are a well knit team. They work together in tracking the cat to each egging the other to look at different spots. They will also speak to the other jeep drivers and guides to know if there is a call anywhere in the forest. If we draw parallels to high performing marketing teams, they have solid and deep trust in each other and in the team’s purpose. There is freedom to express feelings and ideas. The entire team is working towards common goals. The team is clear on how to work together and accomplish tasks while understanding the team and individual performance goals. It's similar to the guide driver duo - it creates a collaborative environment  with high trust and accountability. 

Have Fun: At the end of the safari, or when we are all endlessly waiting for the sighting, the guide and driver always regale you with stories and they have fun when they say by sometime even acting out the scenarios. It's their way of breaking down the monotony and also engaging with the tourists and themselves. Similarly, having fun at work is crucial and is a key factor that separates mediocre teams from high performing ones. Ensuring that teams are having fun in what they are doing and constantly innovating because of freedom to experiment creates a happy environment and makes them 2X productive and impactful.

The Tiger safari gave me a lot of insight into PPPTF and how they played into the mental make up and functioning of high performance teams. Sighting the tiger gives me the same high as seeing an event or campaign being successful and the organization benefiting from it. Let me know what you think of PPPTF?