🚣♂️Red Team Fires Rower After Losing by One Mile
Red team's restructuring didn't fix their rowing problem
TL;DR
The Red team reorganized after losing to the Green team by one mile but fired their sole rower based on poor performance. The next year, they lost again and outsourced rowing.
In a surprising turn of events, the Red team, which had seven captains and only one rower, was outperformed by the Green team with seven rowers and one captain in a crucial race. Despite hiring consultants to analyze their structure and reorganizing into a more hierarchical setup, the Red team's performance didn't improve. They fired their lone rower based on unsatisfactory results but lost again the following year. The Red team is now outsourcing rowing efforts and designing new boats for better outcomes.
Key Points
The Green team won by one mile with seven rowers and a captain, outperforming Red's hierarchical structure of captains and managers.
Consultants advised reorganizing the Red team into four captains led by two managers reporting to a senior director, but performance didn't improve.
Red team fired their sole rower after unsatisfactory performance despite restructuring efforts and leadership bonuses for captains and directors.
New analysis showed that while the strategy was sound, the tools (rowing setup) were sub-standard, leading to poor results.
Red team is now designing a new boat and outsourcing rowing to India in hopes of improving their performance.
Why It Matters
If you're managing a high-performance team with complex hierarchies, firing key contributors based on initial setbacks can backfire. The Red team's decision to fire the lone rower after restructuring failed shows how critical individual roles are and highlights the importance of evaluating both strategy and tools.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does this matter?
If you're managing a high-performance team with complex hierarchies, firing key contributors based on initial setbacks can backfire. The Red team's decision to fire the lone rower after restructuring failed shows how critical individual roles are and highlights the importance of evaluating both strategy and tools.
What happened?
The Red team reorganized after losing to the Green team by one mile but fired their sole rower based on poor performance. The next year, they lost again and outsourced rowing.
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