Why highly skilled teams could be bad for your business
“What does a fighter pilot actually do? Well, it’s nothing like Top Gun. I saw the movie, signed up for 12 years – and never played beach volleyball once.” Former Red Arrow and RAF fighter pilot, Justin Hughes, kicked off his session at our Microsoft Teams launch event in a particularly memorable way.
Taking to the stage to discuss how to perfect teams and teamwork, Justin regales his audience with stories and insights from his time as a pilot. But how, you might be thinking, can you compare flying for the Red Arrows and the RAF to business?
Not getting the whole picture?
Every day you’re faced with multiple decisions, and the way you make them and the speed in which you do so has a number of consequences for your business. Regardless of whether it’s small, like choosing your lunch, or large, like picking a new partner, you always want to make the right choice.
But when you don’t have all the information, it gets much harder. Let’s say you’ve got to choose something for lunch, but you’re a vegetarian and you don’t know what’s veggie-friendly. If you can find the missing information, it’s a no-brainer. But if you can’t? Then you need to make a judgement call. And this isn’t so bad when the only risk is missing a meal. It’s when the stakes get higher that judgement is harder.
This is where Justin’s days of coordinating teams of pilots in ambiguous situations, while on critical missions starts to make sense for businesses. He’s got plenty of tricks and tips to help you make the right call, every time.
Aptitude or attitude?
Justin then brought up the importance of hiring. He compares Netflix, the Red Arrows, Next Jump and the All Blacks. Stuck trying to find the common denominator? Here’s a clue: it’s all about aptitude and attitude.
Do you hire for skill, or for fit? The Red Arrows has a non-negotiable stance when it comes to this. Yeah, you need to be a talented pilot. But you don’t need to be the best pilot, providing you’ve got the right attitude. And if that works for one of the most skilled teams in the world? Then it’s going to work for all of us too.
So, once you’ve got your team together, how can you help them collaborate effectively and efficiently? Well, you can find out by watching Justin’s entire session (and with a bit of help from Microsoft Teams too).
Want to hear Justin’s session in full? Or maybe you’d like to know why we need to embrace chaos in the workplace? Check out this on-demand recording of the Microsoft Teams launch event to get all the answers.
Watch the full session from the Microsoft Teams launch
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