On managing others: learn how to walk before you try to run a marathon
Too many inexperienced leaders assume they can implement elite performance when they haven't yet mastered the basics
(The following is from the book I’m writing about startups. The working title is “One on one meetings are underrated. Group meetings waste time.”)
Imagine a man in his thirties who is addicted to video games. He plays them all day long. Out of shape, he finds himself short of breath every time he walks up a flight of steps. Then something happens, a crisis, perhaps a health incident or the death of a loved one, which makes him see his life differently. He decides he needs to change. There are many programs that could help guide him as he slowly rebuilds his muscles, tendons, cartilage and cardio-vascular system. For instance, "Couch to 5K" is a good program. Simply going for a long walk each day would be a solid program for someone badly out of shape. But instead of doing the slow work of building up to a 5k run, he starts reading about ultra-marathons. Awestruck, he memorizes facts about those who can run for 50 miles or more. Famous incidents, terrible accidents, unusual weather, upset wins -- he memorizes it all. None of which helps him get back into shape. In fact, this focus on ultra-marathons is, if anything, a distraction from the real work he should be doing. Barely able to walk a mile, he daydreams about running for 50.
I'm sad to say that I've worked with entrepreneurs who preside over badly run, poorly performing organizations, but who fantasize about incorporating the advanced disciplines of the U.S. military. Rather than admiring them for their ambition I've learned to doubt them for their distance from reality.
There is a super abundance of business books that promote elite performance as if it is the norm by which we should measure ourselves:
Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win, by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin.
Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way, by Dan Carrison and Rod Walsh.
To be clear, many of these books are very good. My concern is that many of them amount to the fantasy of running an ultra-marathon when a person is a couch potato who can barely get out the front door.
I'll quote from one of my favorites. In their book The Discipline of Teams, Jon R Katzenback and Douglas K Smith write:
The most important characteristic of teams is discipline; not bonding, togetherness, or empowerment. Perhaps the finest examples of small group performance are in the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC). Some of the small groups qualify as teams and some do not. But whatever small group configuration is required, the USMC invariably uses the right one at the right time. The reason is discipline. Discipline is a three-dimensional concept for the USMC. Top-down command and control is alive and well, but it is no match for the peer discipline and self-Discipline that create value-driven Marines.
It is this three-dimensional discipline that ensures that the leadership role in a USMC fire team will shift, depending on who has the high ground. This same discipline motivates rifle platoon leadership teams, where a gunnery sergeant might tell his captain to change the intended tactical maneuver because he, the gunny, perceives a better way. It is this discipline that motivates every rifleman to act on the intent of leaders two levels up, since intent always takes precedence over any direct command to the contrary. Moreover, the USMC can apply real-team discipline with the same conviction and facility as they apply the single leader discipline, for which they are better known. Marines are masters of team performance because they are proficient at not one, but two disciplines that create versatile, powerful performance units.
It is not happenstance that this book is titled The Discipline of Teams, the sequel and companion to our earlier work, The Wisdom of Teams. In fact, for the first book, we might have easily chosen discipline for the title instead of wisdom, since we certainly recognized its importance at the time. We even called our definition of teams a discipline. What we failed to appreciate fully, however, is the difficulty many would encounter in differentiating and integrating the team and single-leader disciplines. That difficulty, more than anything else, warrants this sequel, which we sincerely hope will provide additional help to the readers of and believers in The Wisdom of Teams as they work hard to get rel teams in the right places at the fight times for the right reasons.
… Understanding the value and potential of teams has proved to be much easier than applying the discipline required in achieving team performance.
(To be clear, when they speak of "teams" they do not just mean "groups," but rather, they refer to situations where an entire group, rather than an individual leader, takes responsibility for meeting a goal.)
Much can be learned from these books, but I also urge caution. A person who joins the Marines is a person who is ready to die for their country. By contrast, the frontend designer who agrees to take your Photoshop or Figma design and turn it into working code is just a civilian who wants to do their job and then go home to their family. They have not agreed to die for you.
While these books offer a fascinating look at high performing organizations, some of the behavior patterns described take years of training to develop, for both the leaders and the lead. Merely reading a book, and then trying to implement the ideas, might lead to chaotic results. Don't underestimate how hard it can be to replicate the performance culture of the U.S. Marines.
If you happen to oversee a well-run organization, and you want to take performance up to an even higher level, then these books can offer useful insights about the kind of disciplines you and your staff need to develop. But again, many of the places that I have worked at or consulted with have been far from ideal, and I urge them to learn the basics before trying something advanced. Don’t assume you’re ready to storm the beaches of Normandy when you and your employees have not yet graduated from basic training.
The most basic of all management techniques is developing rapport with one other person, by having good one-on-one conversations. Get that right before you start dreaming of the management equivalent of an ultra-marathon.