Nautical Metaphors

Metaphors. In business, we love sports metaphors (think Al Capone’s baseball speech in The Untouchables), and we love military metaphors. I suppose that has a lot to do with historical gender bias in business management. I’ve been guilty of using both and seem to be downright addicted to a few in particular. But the metaphors and images that I like best are nautical ones.?

I think that as a tribe we behave in ways that are counter-productive and, at times, dangerous. The image I keep in my mind is of a ship where somebody calls out that there is something to starboard, and?everyonerushes to the starboard side of the ship. As a consequence, the ship begins to list to starboard. In response to the list, everyone on the ship dashes to port, and the ship, in turn, begins to list to port. Back to starboard.

Examples? How about when Tesco came to the US with its Fresh and Easy concept that was going to completely disrupt American food retailing. If you remember this as anything less than panic, you don’t remember it clearly. How many American executives flew across the Atlantic to see British/European products and packaging, spawning lots of frenetic activity that didn’t go anywhere. “They are so far ahead of us in Europe.” That’s a really strange thing to say. It’s a very?normative?thing to say. Let’s try again:??The habits and attitudes of Americans differ in significant ways from those of the Europeans and therefore require different solutions. Nope. Someone screamed Tesco and all hands to Starboard.

It's really a matter of applying a little critical thought whenever you hear everyone saying the same thing. You might think of it as Conventional thought vs contrarian thought. Here’s a blast from the past:??remember when everyone was blown away by Blue Apron? Why didn’t more people think about the difference between adoption and retention? All hands to port. Sodium. Trans-fat. Pick your favorite.?

Based on some experiences I’ve had in the prepared foods area in deli, I have heard a lot about all of the “brown food” that makes up most of the assortment. Fair enough—the industry ought to be thinking very seriously about the right assortment to optimize reach. But let’s take a moment to think about the quick service segment in foodservice. Is anyone able to think of wildly successful concepts or menu items that are “brown food?” I’m not taking a position on it either way, I’m just pointing out that an awful lot of “brown food” is sold out there, and it probably makes sense to consider the existing audience and the desired audience and consider their preferences.?

Here are a few others:

·??????Clear the scuppers.??Scuppers are the cutouts at the sides of the ship at deck height. The purpose is to allow water that comes onto the deck to flow off the deck as quickly as possible. Water on the deck raises the center of gravity of the boat and, in worst-case scenarios, can lead to capsizing. When a captain knows he is headed into weather, he orders, “Clear the scuppers.” Heading into weather, it’s a certainty that you’ll catch white water over the bow. Get all extraneous stuff out of the way, so the water clears. In your business, you know you’re headed into a difficult time or situation. You can’t avoid it. What do you do? Clear the scuppers. Get all extraneous crap out of the way. Tighten up your priorities, lose distractions and focus on the matter at hand. Clear the scuppers.

·??????Proceed at flank speed. We’re all familiar with the expression, “Full speed ahead!” That order directs the crew to proceed at 100% of the ship’s capacity. There are times, however, when 100% is not good enough. Then there’s flank speed. That’s proceeding at greater than 100% of capacity. It gets a ship out of immediate danger, but it is inefficient and unsustainable. In business, we know what full speed looks like. I think we even know what flank speed looks like. There are times we need to proceed at flank speed to get through a dangerous situation. We need to know how to do that. But let’s remember that it is inefficient and unsustainable.

·??????Fair winds and a following sea.?This is what we wish for ourselves and our mates: Favorable conditions to move forward on our planned path and to make good speed. When you don’t get fair winds and a following sea, you have to adjust your plans. You may want to head East, but in a storm, you can’t allow yourself to take waves abeam (on the side of the ship). That’s a good way to capsize. You must either take the waves on your bow or on your stern. That may mean that your plan to head East just got modified. You need to head North, for example, until the seas allow you to resume your course to the East. In its business application, that means that we’ve got a plan—a plotted course, but sometimes external circumstances dictate that we change course. We’re not abandoning our destination, but we are adjusting our course because that is the safe and prudent thing to do. An inflexible commitment to the plotted course is insanity, not commitment. Adjust course, keep the crew safe, don’t lose focus on the destination, and come about when you can. There’s nothing admirable in capsizing and losing the crew.?

My best wishes for fair winds and a following sea.