👉 “Will it make the boat go faster?”

After languishing in the low ranks (or not even qualifying for the Olympics) for many years, the British rowing team took everyone by surprise in the 2000 Sydney Olympics by winning gold!

How did they do it? The rowers would make every decision, big or small, by asking, “Will it make the boat go faster?”

Should I choose this diet? “Will it make the boat go faster?”

Should I work out today? “Will it make the boat go faster?”

Should I choose this rowing method? “Will it make the boat go faster?”

Months and years of this singular focus on ‘making the boat go faster’ compounded over time, every small action added up, and they ended up becoming champions.

👉 1) What’s your “Will it make the boat go faster?” question? What is your organization’s (or team’s) single objective or purpose that trumps everything else and will create leverage for all other decisions?

👉 And then, 2) Choose that question as the decision criteria and give it visibility by repeating it in your weekly team meetings and your 1x1s. 3) Create a culture of accountability around that question. 4) Reward the team for aligning their actions to that question.

Magic will happen.

Inspiration and source: Blog post from Harish Narayanan