Reeling in Success: Business Lessons Learned from Deep Sea Fishing

Last week, I had the pleasure of enjoying my honeymoon in the Caribbean with my beautiful wife. It was nothing short of being one of the best weeks of my life, as we soaked up the sun, relished the crystal-clear waters, and breathed in the fresh sea air. One of the activities that particularly stood out during our romantic getaway was a deep sea fishing trip. As a fishing enthusiast, I was especially excited for this new experience, which not only made for a fantastic time but also offered some unexpected insights that I could relate back to my professional life.

From Shallow to Deep Waters: A Shift in Strategy

Our deep sea fishing adventure began with an introduction from our captain, who explained the roles of the crew, deckhands, and fishermen (including my wife and me) on our cozy-sized coastal fishing vessel. The captain’s responsibility was to navigate the boat to the most promising fishing spots, while the deckhands assisted with baiting hooks, reeling in fish, and cleaning our catch. Our job as fishermen was to keep our lines ready and waiting in the water, feeling for bites and setting the hooks.

Initially, we fished in shallow waters, casting our lines individually in a ring around the boat. The trick was to get the bait deep into the water, wait for bites, and then set the hook with a swift whip-like motion. At first, my attempts were unsuccessful as I found myself merely feeding the fish. But with guidance from one of the deckhands, I soon mastered the technique, and we all started reeling in fish after fish.

Trawling Together: The Power of Teamwork

Despite our success in the shallows, we quickly realized that the small fish we were catching weren’t enough to feed our ten-person crew. The captain decided it was time to go deeper in search of larger catches. Our fishing strategy shifted dramatically as we ventured into deeper waters. Individual lines were replaced with a unified V formation, trawling behind our vessel in search of bigger, more substantial fish.

After almost twenty minutes of no activity, one of our lines finally hooked a catch. We rallied together as a team, taking turns reeling in the fish until we landed a vibrant Mahi Mahi. Unlike our earlier attempts in shallow waters, it took the entire boat working together to successfully land this larger catch.

From Fishing to the Workplace: Reflecting on Team Growth

This incredible team effort on the boat reminded me of my own professional teams back home and how our roles have evolved over the years. Early in my career, the projects and clients I worked with were smaller, manageable by a few team members. My company, Zeal, operated similarly, with several teams working independently on smaller clients.

However, as our company has grown, so has our need to change our approach and go deeper, for larger projects and clients that can feed the company as a whole. We have set our smaller rods down to cast all of our lines out in a singular direction to land much larger work that takes care of the entire company. Our efforts are more coordinated, our roles are more specific, and our projects require a lot more persistence and skill to successfully deliver. We are led in a uniform direction by an incredible CEO that gives us guidance and direction as to where we need to spend our efforts. We have partners and account leads that are watching the lines and skillfully turning nibbles into bites that lead to us landing our engagements. We have incredibly talented consultants that help work the projects we land and ensure we get the project across the finish line.

Conclusion: Bringing it All Back Home

My Caribbean honeymoon may be over, but the lessons learned from our deep sea fishing adventure remain. Though I’m no longer fishing in the ocean, I’m still “fishing” in a metaphorical sense — working alongside an incredible team to reel in success for our company. And let me tell you, we have one hell of a crew.