BURN THE SHIPS COMMITMENT

Coach Smart Burning the Fleet

I’ve always liked and used the analogy of a breakfast of bacon and eggs.  The chicken is involved but the pig is totally committed!

That example of radical commitment popped into my head as I listened to the postgame interview with Kirby Smart, the winning coach of the Number 3 Georgia Bulldogs who had just knocked off the Number 1 Alabama Crimson Tide for the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship!  Coach Smart stated “There were people saying we weren’t conditioned enough and it pissed a lot of people off on our sideline and they went to work.  And before we came to work today, we burned the boats and we came to fight and I’m proud of these men.”  The ships were not in the harbor and nothing was left on the field at the closing whistle.

I suspect many people are familiar with the concept of burning the ships when it comes to a discussion of total focused commitment.  The legendary Alexander the Great led a fleet of ships into Asia Minor to conquer the Persian Empire in 334 BC.  He ordered his men to burn the ships when they reached shore and told them “We will either return home in Persian ships or we will die here.”  Centuries later in 1519, Hernando Cortez ordered his 600 men to burn the ships when they landed in Mexico to plunder Aztec gold even though they were outnumbered in a strange land with superior weapons.

Burning the boats is a great way to give the troops a radical vision of the commitment necessary for success, but I believe the Dawgs had the right mindset.  They didn’t just hit the field without first having a total commitment for preparation.  I’m certain they missed a lot of their favorite television shows and good times with friends.  When I think back on all the tests that I took in school which prepared me for life in the business world, I was only anxious about those where I was aware that I was not properly prepared.  I had a predictable calmness when I was tested on those occasions where I knew that I had done everything possible and sacrificed my free time to be prepared. 

A leader should also review possible alternatives and safety valves before the process is underway to change the game plan once the battle is engaged.  If possible, implementing the plan on a smaller scale first is a great way to work out the kinks. To quote Ed Harris from the movie Apollo 13, “Failure is not an option.”  Goals should be challenging but attainable.  And being prepared for life’s challenges when we leave the security of the shoreline will always serve us well as we witness the burning ships of competitors in our rearview mirror.

BURNING SHIPS

Burning the Fleet

TOTAL COMMITMENT
TEAMWORK

When the Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortez landed at Veracruz, Mexico, in 1519 with 600 men, he ordered his fleet of ships burned!  He was totally outnumbered and total commitment from his men was the key to success.  Destroying all means of turning back without any exit ramps eliminated all options except total commitment.  Two years later that totally unorthodox action resulted in the success of his mission to conquer the Aztec empire in his quest for gold in the New World.

I can remember installing new processes in business where total commitment was absolutely necessary to move forward into our own new business worlds.  Our leaders made it very plain that the ships of the past would be burned into a watery grave as we installed these processes with no looking back.  Business leaders need to make clear to everyone that the ships that got us where we are today will not remain in the harbor, but will be fully involved in flames the second the new process goes live on-line!

I’ve always liked and used the analogy of a breakfast of bacon and eggs.  The chicken is involved but the pig is totally committed!

Embracing this “all in” mind-set not only applies in warfare and business but in our personal lives as well.  I just finished a book by Nathan Jorgenson titled The Mulligan.  A Mulligan in golf is simply a second chance or “do-over” after an initial bad shot and that first errant shot is forgotten and now out of play.  The universal second chance for just about everyone will always lift your spirits and give you renewed hope for redemption on the next shot!

Joe Mix is a middle-class man in Minnesota who is unhappy and unfulfilled.  He’s a man living the American dream.  But he slowly and painfully comes to terms that his marriage, life choices and career are an unbearable façade and a charade.  After many years of tolerating an intolerable spouse and a successful job he hates, he finally resolves to a total commitment to pack his basic belongings along with $8,500 in cash into his old familiar pickup truck and leave it all.  He calls his younger brother who’s conveniently a lawyer and instructs him to begin divorce proceedings and give his wife everything including the house, savings and his dental practice.  When his brother incredulously objects, Joe simply replies “This isn’t about money; it’s about everything else BUT money, I guess.  Now, somewhere out there, I plan to find some meaning.  Will you just help me dispose of my old life?  Please?  So I can get on with it all.” 

Joe knows the road ahead is extremely uncertain for a man his age, but he also understands that the only way he will find his way will be by embracing a total commitment to life.  He leaves Minnesota with burning ships reflecting in his rearview mirror.  Perhaps all those ships could have been spared if everyone had only resolved to a total commitment on that first shot at life, but who’s to say?  Most times it’s truly a team effort for everybody that’s on board in life.

And sometimes we need a mulligan.