If you are into history (as I apparently am), you may know all there is to know about a man named Hernán Cortés. For those of you who don’t know him, he was a Spanish conquistador who came to the shores of what we now know as Mexico in 1519. He was in the business of taking new territory for the Spanish crown as well as buffering the coffers of said crown and making a name for himself in the process.
The other thing Cortés is known for, and the reason I am interested in him, is for burning his own ships in the harbor when he arrived to this new, unconquered land. The way the story goes, when he and his men disembarked, his men were not too thrilled about all manner of things: the natives, the food (or lack thereof), the humidity – you get the picture. Cortés, knowing that this was a moment that would make or break his own career as well as that of his men and the position of the Crown in the European land grab happening at the time, determined that some drastic action was needed. He managed to convince his crew that the best course of action was to burn all the ships save one so that they would be galvanized to complete their mission.
Whoa. Pretty intense. The first time I read this, I was a bit horrified. I pictured myself on the shores of a body of water with my last recourse on fire in front of me – which is why I chose the picture at the top. Really captures that feeling.
Now, take a moment to consider. What would have happened if, instead of taking that massive risk, Cortés instead said, “You know what, guys? I think you’re right. This is a lot bigger and a lot scarier than anything else I’ve come across at this point myself. Let’s get back on those ships and go home.”
What would not have happened is history as we know it. We wouldn’t be talking about this story. Cortés wouldn’t have conquered Mexico for the Spanish Crown. All stories of him would have painted him as a coward rather than an inspired leader.
Regardless of personal opinion on his methods, we can take a powerful lesson from this anecdote: don’t be afraid to take the meaningful risk that is in front of you to take.
You may wonder what this has to do with culture shift, or culture alignment, or anything relevant to your life at all. Well, the reality is that every day, whether in our professional or personal lives, we come across situations and circumstances that give us the option to give up on the change we know we need to make or press on. When we come across those situations, we can take a moment to consider what ship we might have in front of us to burn.
Here’s an example. At one point in my career I worked for a food manufacturer as Continuous Improvement Manager. When I came into the position, I had just come from working 80-hour weeks doing three different jobs. I was very excited at the prospect of keeping predictable office hours of 9-5. I loved the idea of getting my time back. Guess what? I immediately discovered that we needed to improve our start up on the line, which was taking three hours when it should have taken one and a half. Start up happened on Mondays at 3 AM. In addition to this, we were also working on our full line clean, which was taking eight hours and could be done in four.
The ship? You guessed it. My entitlement to a predictable schedule. So I burned that, committing to being present for the clean whenever it happened. This meant that sometimes I was at work at one in the morning. I committed to being present at start up for eight consecutive weeks.
Was it necessary for me to burn this ship and be at work at all hours? I believe it was. The results of those projects were not only us hitting the targets, but also the trust I won with the team, the respect I gained as a leader on the floor, and the understanding I cultivated not only of those processes, but others as well.
In preparation for your activity, here’s a rundown of how you can identify a ship:
- What makes you feel safe?
- What do you feel entitled to?
- What feels risky to confront or change?
Activity: Now, keeping those questions in mind, get a pen, a piece of paper, and a timer. Set the time for 90 seconds. This activity has three parts.
- Think about the last year. Write down all the challenges you faced.
- Think about this year. Write down all the challenges you see now – the things you lie in bed thinking about, the things you go to work and deal with everyday, top-level goals, etc.
- Now, using the three questions above, identify a ship you see in each challenge.
Reflection: Consider the ships you identified. Did you burn them in the challenges from last year? If not, how did you overcome the challenge? What about this year? How might burning those ships have a positive impact on the outcome you desire to achieve?
You can also listen to my Burn Your Ships! webinar for more insight into this subject (thanks to KaiNexus for hosting me)!