Skivvy Company
What I learned in boot camp a long long time ago (continued...)
So, there we were. Thirty kids going through boot camp together. It was not easy. If you are going to break down or run away, the Coast Guard prefers to have this happen during boot camp, not while you are on a 378 ft. cutter in the middle of the Bearing Sea. There was a lot of stress as we learned to fit our new culture and an amazing number of opportunities to get things wrong.
In fact, we got nearly nothing right the first two weeks we were there. I never saw another company do this, but the third week we were there, we had done so poorly that our company commander ordered us to wear our underwear over our heads and march around holding the fly open so we could see out. We quickly became known as "Skivvy Company".
Towards the end of that week, we were discussing what could be done to improve our lot and one of the guys (I think I remember we nick named him "Smiley") said "maybe instead of trying to do everything by ourselves, we could each pick one thing we are really good at and do it for everyone". We all figured we could not do any worse than we already were, so we decided to give this a try.
I was good at polishing boots. So, every night, I polished 30 pairs of boots to a high gloss. In return, someone else made my bed for me in the morning, someone else made sure that every item in my locker was folded perfectly and arranged exactly as required. One kid had a fetish about dust. His job was to use masking tape and go around the entire quarters picking up dust every morning before inspection.
There were some things that we could not do for each other. For example, there were drills where we competed with other companies in such skills as knot tying and first aid. Each of us had to be good with those skills because we were only as good as the weakest member of our team. For those things, we picked the person who was best at whatever skill it was, and he taught the rest of us how to do it well and do it fast.
We each did one or two things that we were really good at for everyone else in the company. Where we could not do it for everyone, we picked the best we had and he taught the rest of us.
And, an amazing thing happened…
That week we took every award. In fact, every week for the rest of our time there, we took every award. We went from being "Skivvy Company" to being "Cock of the Walk" over night and we never looked back. On graduation day, our company commander (with actual tears in his eyes) told us he never had a company like ours before and doubted if he ever would again.
So, what did I learn? And what can you learn from this?
Trust your team. You will never be good at everything. The quarterback will never be a good guard and the guard will never be a great quarterback. However, if each member of the team does their job well, the team can win. This was true in boot camp. It is true in football. And, it will be true at work. Trust your team. Trust that each member is doing what they do best and that they are doing it to the best of their ability.
Similarly, help your team. If there is something you are good at, teach the rest how to do it. If you can’t teach everyone how, do it for them.
When you have problems (and I can guarantee you will have problems), ask for help. At my current position, I know I am not the brightest bulb in the box. There are members on my team who can do in two hours what it takes me all day (or longer) to accomplish. There are some who can do things I should not even be trusted to attempt. When I have a problem, I ask for help. When I do not understand something, I ask the “stupid” question because I would rather feel foolish for a little bit and admit that I do not know the answer than be on a loosing team.
When I can, I volunteer my help to others on my team who might need it. Remember... If your team wins, you will win with them. If your team fails, you will fail with them as well.
If you are really lucky, someday you may be on a team as amazing as the one I am currently part of. But, even if you are not, be the team player you hope everyone else will be.