A few years ago, (July 2015 to be exact) I sat down with Forbes contributor, Kevin Harrington, to answer a few questions on how World Champion sailing techniques can help your business chart a successful course. Given the recent effects of the Pandemic on the Global Economy and how leaders and executives are having to re-think how they run and transact their businesses, I thought it would be an appropriate time to revisit this article. Check out the updated piece below.
How World Champion Sailing Techniques Can Help Your Business Chart A Successful Course
We are about to enter the first quarter of the new year and this is the time that I ask business owners to look at their numbers, their strategies and to determine what course correcting action needs to take place to finish the year strong and position for the year ahead. Often, it is simply about applying a modified game plan or looking at things with a different lens, but after a historic year battling COVID-19, a volatile market and industries put on the brink of extinction, we enter 2021 needing a sound tactical plan more than ever! Some businesses may even need to consider taking a Quantum Leap or as we say in sailing a “Flyer” (a totally different change in direction) as their markets and distribution channels have more or less disappeared or been turned on their heads.
I often ask other business leaders what their techniques are to adjust their course of business and often apply a sailing term and analogy which is– “Velocity Made Good.” Basically, it is a new way to view what Wayne Gretzky said years ago – “Skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”
“Velocity Made Good” is when instead of sailing directly toward a windward mark (your goal or destination) the helmsman chooses a point of sail towards the direction of the wind that optimizes Velocity Made Good (either towards the destination – or towards better winds). This concept, which Kevin was very interested in, is how I applied it to winning two sailing World Championships in the past decade and growing Clearbrook LLC, a financial services firm, to over $10 billion in assets under advisement and/or management since I founded the company 15-years ago.
Sailing in a straight line is not the fastest way to reach your destination. Instead, the boat is turned away from the wind which actually creates more forward pressure (apparent wind) on the sails and allows the boat to move faster. It seems like the long way to the finish line, but it is the fastest approach.
In the majority of situations, a straight path creates the greatest amount of resistance slowing forward progress and is never the preferred way. This applies in business, life, sailing and in every situation one can ponder. In business, when you are pushing against tremendous resistance it expends massive amounts of human, financial and time resources. It is more effective, both short- term and long-term, to look at the path of least resistance and make the appropriate adjustments; which often means turning opposite of the path most likely and leading towards the most unlikely route.
“In my experience, I have gained speed and have been able to bring innovative products and services to market that were well received and more profitable by adopting this type of strategic non- conforming thinking,” which I had mentioned to Kevin 6 years ago. Now with the troubled economy and resistance created by the plague, companies and business will need to survive by finding new avenues with the least resistance to put their companies back on track and to grow their businesses. They may need to even resort to Quantum Leaps as paradoxical behaviors, unusual moves; actions on the surface often that seem to contradict common sense in order to get back into the race. And trust me, if there was ever a time to think out of the box to find the least resistance, now is that time.
And how do you plan for these new initiatives and dynamic ways of thinking and how do you keep them from faltering? In business, Kevin and I both agree, fluid planning is more effective than static planning. In a static planning model, businesses will create a 3 to 5-year business plan. In a fluid or tactical planning model, a business creates a 6-month to 1-year strategic plan with a business thinking outline for 1 to 3 years. This allows a business leader to adjust for the potential resistance that is immediately facing your business (in the next 6-months) while maintaining an eye on how the landscape may shift over the next couple of years. This is similar to adjusting your strategy while racing to the ever-changing conditions on the race course as your winds, competitors, currents and overall conditions change minute-to-minute and necessitate your continued reactivity. If you brush off that long term business plan every so often you will be left behind by your competitors who react immediately to the changing conditions.
In business, it is important to move early into new aspects and in an innovative direction. This means a business leader must take into consideration the business variables that exist today and analyze them in relation to where the industry and market is moving tomorrow. This is what a true visionary leader does. This takes insight, foresight, patience and the ability to make time for strategic thinking.
Back in July of 2015 when I had initially written this article I had looked at and commented on companies including Uber, Apple , Google and Spanx and I saw Velocity Made Good being applied within each. These companies were not moving in a straight line. They had clearly taken a fluid and innovative approach to expanding their business. From 2015 to today they have each made significant strides, carved out incredible niches for themselves and generated fantastic shareholder value.
Every day I encounter business owners and innovators all over the world so I feel fortunate that I can apply this principle and share it with you. I just ask you to think about how Velocity Made Good can help you chart a new course with your business?