Your Boat Must Be In The Water To Get Across The Lake

 Focus & Direction, 

(the RIGHT direction), are essential components of arriving at any specific destination. Focus defines how engaged and invested one is in their endeavor and how committed they are to bringing the objective home. Performing the right tasks with the correct priority will move an individual and a team closer to their destination.

A terrific quote by business guru Kenichi Ohmae asserts... 

“Rowing harder doesn’t help,

if the boat is headed in the wrong direction”

To expand upon the analogy of the row boat, we must understand that first and foremost, the boat must be in the water to function at all. In other words, your team must be in agreement that the objectives sought are understandable, achievable and agreed upon as beneficial. Next, the team must be willing to place their oars in the water and work in unison in order to move the boat to the other shore. One person rowing cannot move the boat forward more rapidly than three, four or more people rowing in unison and harmony. Five people rowing at different times creates inconsistency of movement and the boat falters and hesitates with multiple “false starts”. If only one side of the boat has oars in the water, the boat moves continuously in a circle without any progress being made. It is not until all oars are in the water and a commitment is made to move the boat in a forward direction that rhythm and harmony evolve into task completion, objective achievement and forward movement. 

Effective teams require that all oars are in the water, on both sides of the boat. Effective team building,  market penetration and return on investment requires that the "message" side of the boat operates in unison with the "action" side of the boat. Leadership must charge itself with the task of operating all oars in unison with harmony of effort, in order to achieve organizational and team  objectives. Individuals can apply this same premise to personal goals by defining their destination, seeking a greater understanding of the necessary steps to achievement, and proceeding on that defined path.

So, how do we get the boat in the water, everyone inside and all oars working in unison? We first should begin with our "What". In the objectives phase of achievement we need to define what it is that we seek to achieve. What is our organizational goal, our regional goal our office goal and ultimately, our personal goal. Until we can define "what" our objective is, can it truly be achieved? I believe that achieving success without a defined destination would be a challenge at best. We can liken that scenario to shooting a bow and arrow in a field, in the dark of night and hoping we make a "bull's eye" shot, ...it probably isn't going to happen.


You may read the following statement from me multiple times in our future together, I repeat it because I believe it... "Success is never an accident, it is an outcome of effective design". So we must "design" our success incrementally by defining our objectives with clarity. This will help structure the path to our destination. Now, back to objectives, as a leader of teams, we should remember that team members will interpret a given objective based upon their frame of reference, their job function and their interpretation of what the objective is. This might pose a problem if their frame of reference is different from those forming the objectives or if their job function is percieved as a support position or if the objective is not clearly defined and communicated. for the sake of diminishing such a mis-perception, allow me to clarify, ORGANIZATIONAL PROGRESS IS EVERYONE'S RESPONSIBILITY. For this reason personal, professional and organizational objectives should be established using a formula similar to the method taught in journalism 101, some of those journalism W's include: "What", "Why" "Who" and "How" (or "how much"). OK, so the last one's not a "W", but you get the idea. "What", in a few sentences, is our objective? "What" are we trying to accomplish? "What" will fulfillment of the objective achieve?

Next is the "Why". As a "why" kid I'm certain I must have driven my parents and teachers nuts, but the need to understand "why" made it possible to buy in to the direction and objectives that these mentors were attempting to move me and my siblings/fellow students toward. Therein lies the key... BUY IN. Without buy in from the team, achieving objectives is like pushing a round boulder up a smooth hill. "Why" the objective is important, must be defined and communicated to the team in order to obtain "Buy In". Such a definition not only provides insight into what is important to leadership, but it also defines what it means for the firm, (as the leadership goes, so the company follows). "Why" have we determined the defined as our primary or priority objective, (as opposed to some other area of focus)? Unless we've defined our destination and structured a path and then provided a map to the drivers (the team), we very likely will not arrive at our desired objective.

Blog me this...
What have you done to achieve "Buy in" at home, on your team or in your organization? Why did it work? Was everyone in the boat and rowing in the same direction? What has been your outcome as a result of this success or challenge?


...in our next blog, we'll continue our chat about the "Who" and "How" of getting all oars in the water and working together. As we get to know each other, we'll discuss best practices, what to do and perhaps what not to do to achieve greater success in organizational and personal development.

All the best,


Brian C. Nichols
MB Nichols Company

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