March Madness is a nickname indelibly stuck to the single
elimination Division I college basketball tournament that occurs each Spring in
the US. Get ready because it’s coming! From March 15 to April 6 millions of
people will be possessed by this affliction. You don’t even have to be a
basketball fan to get swept up. Before you know it, you’ve joined an office
pool, become a bracketologist (yes, there is such a word); and find yourself
cheering for teams to which you have no emotional ties!
For me, the word ‘madness’ does a good job of capturing
the sustained energy and excitement associated with the tournament:
So
much constant action
So
many games
So
many teams
The
element of unpredictability
The
emotional highs and lows
The
thrill of an ‘upset’
Everyday
heroics
Single
minded grit and determination to make it to the next round; to win the ultimate
prize
The
magic of a high performing team
The
inspiring performance of an underdog
Over
the top school spirit
And so much more…..
What
if
we co-opted this term?
What
if
we co-create our own brand of ‘March Madness?’ No dribbling or shooting
involved.
What
if
we harnessed the passion, the energy, the excitement, the fun and the esprit de
corps that are characteristic of the tournament and creatively put them to work
in our workplaces, departments and teams?
For me, this feels like the perfect antidote to the energy
drain associated with an all too long winter and a great way to shift into
refresh and renewal mode as Spring arrives.
I’ve come up with some leadership
bright ideas for delivering a memorable March Madness experience in your
workplace throughout the month ahead. Of course, once your creative juices
start flowing, develop your own unique ways to catch the ‘feva.’
Don’t forget to share your most creative ideas with us!!
March Madness Challenge 1: During one recent
NCAA tournament, a Kentucky coach shared the following secret to his team’s
success. He said, “We don’t practice until we get it right. We intentionally
practice until we don’t get it wrong.” I found this to be a thought provoking
insight. Share this with your team and lead a discussion on what it means to
you and your team mates. Identify one thing that you can collectively do
differently to ‘intentionally practice until you don’t get it wrong’.
March Madness Challenge 2: There’s a big difference
between frenetic energy and focused energy. The former is hurried and harried.
We might be checking things off the list; but are we doing our best work? The
right work? In a sustained way? In the latter, we aim ourselves strategically
and bring our best selves to the work. Sometimes, we’ve got to slow the game
down a bit to win. Name one or two ways
in which you can ‘slow down to speed up.’ That is, identify one or two areas in
which we can pause briefly and get fanatically focused on what we need to do to
create a great outcome.
Stay tuned for two additional March Madness Challenges!
