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Three Things NASCAR Pit Crews Can Teach You About Geek Work

Living in the heart of NASCAR country even for just a couple of years I’ve already had great opportunities to study and learn from people in the motor sports industry.

The more I pick up the more I realize how much I still have to learn!

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I recently had the opportunity to take a tour of the Stewart Haas racing facility in Kannapolis North Carolina. It is astonishing to understand just how much technology and complexity goes into these 200 mph cars.

NASCAR teams recruit and maintain some of the most talented people in the world to be able to make their cars go just a little faster than the other guy around the track.

Races are won or lost in the pit!

One area of the campus that really stuck out to me was the investment they made in their pit crew training facilities.

I have heard it said that races are won or lost in the pit. That could well be true. Just this season, I have seen a race decided by 1/100 of a second! Successful pit stops depend on fast, flawless, complex choreographed execution.

In 12 seconds (or less) a NASCAR pit crew hits 40 lug nuts, changes four tires, makes suspension adjustments, fills up the gas tank with fuel, clears the windshield, makes airflow adjustments and sends the driver on his way.

Because of the speed, agility, strength, and precision required to complete a successful pit stop NASCAR teams recruit top athletes from major college sports programs and from other professional sports.

So what do NASCAR pit athletes have to do with geeks?

Three things pit crews can teach you about geek work

  1. It takes more than your part of the work.
  2. Teamwork is just as important as technical skill (and more fragile)
  3. Training is the work

1. It takes more than your part of the work.

tony stewart 2009 coca cola 600- flickr tequilamike cc license - 3568402361_d3ed87cdf3_b
Courtesy Flickr/TequilaMike https://www.flickr.com/photos/hyttinen/

Time is short, and the job is so complex that there’s just not any room for mistakes.
Whether you are the driver, the fuel man, the Jack man, for changing tires, everything you do impacts everyone else on the team. Everything they do impacts you. You have to support each other – and that means knowing a lot of THEIR job, too.

The only way that complex, fast moving systems can work is if the experts know more than just their silo.

This means that you need to invest in learning about what other people do. Not just the technical stuff, but also the business stuff.
What are you studying in addition to your area of expertise?

2. Teamwork is just as important as technical skill (and more fragile)

ball-952311_1920NASCAR pit crews have to work perfectly.

It’s really like an orchestra. Success completely depends on each player playing their part well and perfectly coordinated with the other team members.

This means that they have to train together. They train

  • in the specific task of servicing a car in the pits, and also
  • in the weight room,
  • on the track running, and
  • even in downtime getting to know each other as people.

When you can perform at an elite level, often times the difference between winning and losing is actually in mindset, emotions, and teamwork.

Team trust takes a long time to build, and even just one sideways comment from a teammate can take it off track.

Your ability to deliver great solutions depends on teamwork. What are you doing to build it in your team?

3. Training *is* the work

personally-728230_640One of the things that I hear fairly regularly is that technology teams would like to improve their execution when it comes to technology projects for the business, but they “just can’t find the time” to pull people away from the real work to think about things like soft skills and business insights.

Pit crews know that training doesn’t take you away from the real work. Multi-disciplinary training is the work. These guys study their own job backward, forward and inside out. They practice their moves over and over and over again. Training in their area of expertise is their job and training with the team is their job.

“When opportunity comes, it’s too late to prepare”

Pit crews don’t think that they’ll stop working and THEN start training. Pit crews know that training is the work.

Your ability to achieve does depend on your technical expertise. It also depends on your ability to work with other people, and your understanding of the business drivers that make people hire you for the work.

What are you doing today to make training a part of the work you do each week? Each month? This year?

Wrap up

Based on what you have read, what will you do to prepare for your work the same way that a NASCAR pit crew repairs?

  • Will it be in growing people skills,
  • business knowledge,
  • teamwork, or
  • even just recognizing that training is the work?

Let me know!  Email me at coach@BrightHillGroup.com

Communication: Do you see the indicator lights?

scion check engine

 

How’s your engine?

A friend once was on a road trip and her car’s temperature gauge kept climbing.  As she kept driving, the needle pointed to the red zone.  Eventually a light came on, and she kept driving.  As you might imagine, shortly after that, she needed to buy a new car.  She missed the indicators, and it had a big consequence.

 

Do you see the lights?

I recently met with a client who was in trouble.  She told me that her boss said she was doing a terrible job of communicating.
My boss says it’s my tone and word choice, but I really don’t know what he means.  Why can’t he be more specific?
Just like warning lights on your cars dashboard, people give you indicators. Not specific warning lights, but just as useful.   She was missing the indicators.
dashboard indicator warning lights scion

What do they look like?

At another firm, I worked with the senior leadership team.
One of the lead guys is a hard core scientist-type.  As we talked about communication challenges on the leadership team, he sat with his arms folded across his chest.
One of the other leaders said “Why are you so opposed to this?  You’ve been sitting there with your arms folded the whole time!”
His response? “What?  You’re looking at nonverbal communication?  Seriously?”
In the leader’s case above, he did not MEAN to send a negative message – he was comfortable with his arms folded.  He was not aware (or didn’t care) that this had a negative effect on others.

 

Here are some indicators you might want to look for when you’re talking.
Does the other person:
  • Sigh?
  • Glance at their watch repeatedly?
  • Looking at phone/computer instead of looking at you?
  • Fold their arms when you bring up ideas?
  • Fail to make eye contact?
  • Lean away from you when you’re talking?
  • Change the subject after you start talking?

Now what?

Now that you know what to look for – what do you do when you see it?
When my friend was driving and the temperature indicator showed increasing temperature – it was a warning.  If she had understood the meaning of it, she could have made different choices.


When you see the warning signs, it’s a good opportunity to say
I think I see a warning light.  I’m guessing that we’re not connecting.  What information do you need?  Is there something that I need to know?
Then be quiet and LISTEN.
You might find out that your engine is overheating!

It happened again this morning. Don’t let it happen to you!

It happened again.  Just this morning.

A colleague had a defection of sorts.

Two key tech employees independently gave their two weeks’ notice.
I’m close enough to have some insight into what happened in this particular case.
This is a growing, vibrant technology firm. The leaders are smart, nice, hard working people.  They want to do the right thing for their clients, and for their team members.
Each employee decided to leave the company.  Why?  One key factor: senior leadership. 
Project Oxygen- 8 keys to being a great boss - google
Click here to download our FREE Infographic – Google’s 8 Keys to Leading Technical Team Members
One of the “defectors” was an up and coming leader himself.  His key frustration is that his boss was unwilling, or perhaps unable to let him lead.
Think about this: you have a smart, hard-working, emerging leader on your staff.  Your vision is for this team member to grow and become a future leader of your company.
You look for opportunities to help them grow.
But:
  • because you are overwhelmed,
  • because you are incredibly busy,
  • because it’s not a crisis for you,

YOU just simply have not made the time to grow your leadership skills.

Your lack of leadership skill is a key factor holding you back, and holding back your team from growing.

 

Your People Skills Matter More Than Technical Skills

business success 87 percent people knowledge 13 percent product knowledge stanford
The research is clear that our success is tied to our “people knowledge” but time and again, we invest our energy in product knowledge!
I wrote about this a few months ago – the demand for tech talent in Charlotte is high – and unless you set yourself apart, your best folks are going to leave.  Period.

The Cost of Turnover

What does this turnover cost you?
For this colleague, some of the impacts that they are dealing with right now are:
  • Knowledge transfer.
  • Customer relationships.
  • Developing a plan to deal with all of this transition.
  • Follow through on delivery of promises made to current customers.
    Reassuring customers that the company can continue to meet their needs during  this transition.
  • Finding time to keep up with all of the commitments that were made to other customers.
  • Opportunity cost: what deals are lost because leaders are distracted by all of these activities right now?
And none of these costs are related to actually replacing that staff member!
You still have to invest time in:
  • Updating job descriptions.
  • Advertising the position on job boards.
  • Reaching out to recruiting firms to try to identify good candidates.
  • Scheduling interviews with potential candidates.
  • Assessing the skills of potential recruits.
  • And on and on.
This turns out to be a pretty expensive exercise, doesn’t it?
Again, let me emphasize that this is a good company. The owners of the company are decent, hard-working, nice people.  They are smart. They care about their team members. They want their team members to grow. And yet they’ve suffered this loss.

What Went Wrong?

mind the gap doormat flickr daveblogs007 cc_license_8488204426_218f1c0a41_o_with_attribution_cropped
1. They didn’t “Mind the Gap” between their intent to grow, and their ACTION to grow.
They talked about personal growth.  They talked about a staff development program, but by the time they actually started working on that, the emerging leader had lost hope.
The delay between the company leaders intending to do something and ACTUALLY DOING SOMETHING was just too long.
2. Neglecting personal development. The owners of the company were “too busy” to work on their leadership skills.

What Can You Do Now?

There’s a huge gulf  between your intent and your action.
  • Make a plan to grow your leadership skills and then
  • Take Action!
person jumping across a gap - pixabay public domain leap-456100_1920_cropped_resized_edited
Think you don’t have the time or money?  Neither did this colleague.
In this market you can’t afford NOT to invest in your people and your people skills.
Just ask my colleague.
Want help?  Give me a call.  240-668-4799

Podcast: Do you use the "Deer Whistle" approach to risk? It will crash your car (and your company!)

Tom_Cooper_Carl_Pritchard
In this CEO Essentials Podcast, I connect with Carl Pritchard of Carl Pritchard Associates
We talk about how RISK is not necessarily a 4 letter word – how you can be happy about it!

  • Would you like to see the future?
  • Do we have to fix every risk?
  • What *should* we worry about?

 

Resources

Carl shared his “Top 10” list  – a Risk Management 10 step checklist – Pritchard Management Associates – to help you know what you need to do when it comes to managing your risks.  A Big Thank you to Carl for that!
About Carl
Carl Pritchard is the “Risk Guy.”  He’s written two books on risk…the most recent is the Risk Management Memory Jogger with Karen Tate by QPC Press.  He lectures, consults and trains around the world on the topic.  He also has the unusual reputation of making risk management FUN!  He is the principal and founder of Pritchard Management Associates and holds certifications in project management, risk management and earned value.

About the Podcast

We host a podcast focused on the essentials of leadership.  We interview experts and publish a new podcast every few weeks on topics like project management, sales, marketing, leadership development, and so much more.  Don’t miss out!  Sign up here for future podcast episodes to be delivered to you as soon as they are released!  (You can also find the podcast in iTunes)

Contact Me

BrightHill Group
240-668-4799

PO Box 1561
Harrisburg NC 28075

info@BrightHillGroup.com