Alright, I confess, the title is there to grab your attention…sort of. You see, while there are many adages and clever quotes devoted to the topic of preparation, very little is mentioned about the importance of what successful individuals and teams do afterwards; post-event rituals and routines are not given their fair share of attention. This leads many to believe that success relies solely on what you do before the event and neglects the importance of what happens upon completion. Allow me to elaborate by unpacking two “best-practices” that you can institute today with no added resources- Refit and Reflect. Both of these elements are critical to sustaining high-performance and afford you and your organization the opportunity to be more ready for the next summit. Funny how that works isn’t it? When you invest in meaningful post-event rituals, you’re more prepared for the next battle.
Refit
I recently went camping and received some verbal jabs from my friends and family when I told them that the first thing I did after getting back from the long trip was to clean all the gear and put it away. Their process was slightly different- throw everything into the garage, relax, and worry about getting the gear away at a later time. I get that. The last thing I want to do after a long camping trip is do maintenance on the gear and put it away, but 20 years in the SEAL teams has left me captive to a certain standard of doing things. I remember a very distinct moment in SEAL training when this lesson was “hammered” into us. We were near the end of basic training and had just completed one of our final training exercises; it was a long, grueling event and we were tired so we just chucked our gear into the pickup beds, slogged onto the bus, and waited to get back to a shower and bed. This enraged one of the more calm instructors. “Get off the bus!” (add a few expletives for effect). He then proceeded to put us through the ringer- pushups, burpees and 8-count body builders until sweat was pouring from our bodies. Now that we were ready to listen, he explained that in the SEAL teams, even after a long night of training, the priority was always team gear, departmental gear, and personal gear. Only after those tasks were completed by every member of the platoon could you even think about taking a shower, eating and getting some sleep. The message was clear, you have to constantly keep your knife sharp if you want to maintain your edge. Over the course of my career I witnessed this post-event ritual time and time again, it is ingrained in our culture and I believe it is one of the critical components that keeps us game ready. After all, if you put your weapon away without cleaning it, is it ready to fire when you need it most? So, consider how to apply this to your life and within your organization. Do your employees rush out early on Friday, or are they motivated to get things lined up so they can hit the ground running on Monday? After a long day at a job site, does your team leave the area in disarray, or is proper accountability of gear and materials a priority? Is there allocated time for proper health and wellness? How you maintain your own body is a good indicator of how ready you are when adversity arises. Fortunately, the only real investment you need to make is time, this isn’t a practice that requires a lot of resources, it merely requires a little sacrifice.
Reflect
Our live-fire training is marked with multiple iterations of Immediate Action Drills, or IADs. During these 15-30 minute drills, the platoon receives fire from the enemy and has to figure out how to break contact while outmaneuvering them. As the week progresses, the drills get increasingly more complex with the training cadre imposing ever increasing stress on the platoon. At the completion of each drill, before anything else happens, the training cadre conducts a short debrief highlighting the key points and allowing platoon members to add in what they experienced. This practice isn’t limited to short, tactical drills. Every block of training, every school attended, every deployment completed receives an After Action Review or AAR. While they vary in format, the gist of every AAR is the same. Reflect on what transpired, offer ways to improve, and disseminate those lessons to other teammates. SEALs are hypercritical of each other and have no problem verbalizing performance shortfalls, so it’s no surprise that debriefs are routine. Which is why I’m amazed at how many individuals and organizations don’t spend much time reflecting on their performance. What were the good parts of the presentation? How can I improve as a leader? What should we do differently next time? Growth happens during reflection. So if you don’t review your performance, you can’t improve. Dedicated time for reflection won’t necessarily happen overnight, but start somewhere. Spend 15 minutes before leaving work on Friday to think about what went well and what you can improve on. Meditate on the day's events before you sleep. Consider ways to improve your communication after an argument. I guarantee that when you adopt reflection into your culture, you will reap the benefits associated with a growth mindset. And, once again, the barriers to entry are minimal, you can implement this today.
With so much emphasis on what occurs before an event, it’s time to give some thought to what you do after. Good teams prepare, great teams refit and reflect. Being in a constant state of refinement facilitates high levels of performance for sustained periods of time. There is a certain element of humility involved with these practices. In essence, you are admitting that with all your preparation you still didn’t get everything right, but you're willing to get better. You are also recognizing that success isn’t always about getting public credit for the “sexy stuff”, but rather the work that happens in the shadows. Work hard in the shadows, continually sharpen your knife, look for ways to improve and you will be amazed at the results.
Authored By: Mike Uyboco, Managing Director