When I worked in Atlantic City, colleagues invited me to join a Crew club and we would go out on the water regularly. Growing up on a lake, I knew about canoeing and kayaking; those were easy compared to rowing in a 4-person scull. It’s the same when working alone and then becoming part of a group: it’s all about the coordination. And that kind of coordination comes first from making sure everyone understands and agrees with the goal: that’s alignment. Then it takes training, practice and continuous improvement to promote the possibility of success: that’s goal attainment. There were many mornings on the back bay in Atlantic City when one of us would not be paying attention and get out of synch with the other rowers: that kind of a hiccup sometimes meant we capsized and all went into the water. Just like those times at work when teams aren’t coordinated: that’s when production or service, and customer satisfaction, suffer. Make sure your employees all know what’s needed, and why; then go out and exceed your goals today.
Tom DeMarco (b. 1940): American software engineer, author, and consultant on software engineering topics
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