Hypothermia or Strangulation?
A real question that we had to ask ourselves on the Drake Passage - the most dangerous ocean in the world - was how we potentially wanted to die.
Looking at a forty foot wave in a storm is like looking at a black wall in front of you. Water cresting at the top of the wave threatens to crash down.
Wind stinging our faces with thirty three degree water splashing off the side of the boat like a thousand tiny needles pricking your cheeks.
Sitting in a 27 foot row boat with six other men from four different countries on top of these waves, we were left to the power of the ocean to decide our fate.
What we did control was our mindset on how we were going to perform when it did get really bad.
High Performing Teams Start with Values
On land about a week earlier, we huddled together in a tiny living room - six of us reflecting on our personal values, and the important question of our safety tether length. Choosing the right tether was the first values conversation we had to have as a team.
We had to decide between six feet and three feet. The six foot tether gave us distance from the two ton boat on which we were floating. If flipped over in a storm, however, it also presented the problem of possible strangulation. The rope wrapping around our necks as we flipped.
The three foot tether was shorter and kept us closer to the boat in the event of a capsize, but gave us more of a chance of swimming and not being tangled. And thus the question came out:
Strangulation or hypothermia?
The important conversation we had as a team to solidify our values and answer the tough questions meant that we didn’t need to think about it once we were really in the storm. At that point it was too late to figure it out.
Just as we chose our tethers wisely, in our daily lives, we must also make informed decisions about our commitments and responsibilities. Do we stretch ourselves too thin, risking entanglement in too many obligations, or do we keep our commitments close, focused, but potentially limiting our reach?
As we begin a new year, we take the time to reflect on our past year and create new and better versions of ourselves and our teams. Have you had a hard conversation about your values? Have you discussed what you’ll do when problems arise?