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To answer question 4: Most critically, what would your team do differently to solve the problem, how would you do it, and why?

Team dynamics are an important component of a successful team. The ability to work together, trust each other, learn from each other, and grow together helps the team function effectively. While reading “The Army Crew Team” by Snook and Polzer (2004), the reader can quickly identify that the Varsity team did not work effectively as a team. LeFasto and Larson discuss in their first chapter of When Teams Work Best that four factors are essential to winning as a team “openness, supportiveness, an action orientation, and a positive personal style” (2001, p. 8). There is a disconnect between the Varsity team members on supporting these four factors, as they struggle to synchronize their actions during competition.

“Successful racing in a crew required a unique combination of individual skills and team coordination” (Snook, p.2). The way a team works is when all the pieces come together to form something greater than the sum of their individual parts. In the case of the Army Crew Team, they had two different mindsets when it came to their Junior Varsity and Varsity teams. The problem in the Varsity team was that they were all Type A personalities who were the teams objectively best rowers. The Varsity team members believed that they were all the best in their own right, which, they were some of the best rowers on the team in terms of individual skill, however, they did not know how to work together as a team and account for others advantages and pitfalls. The Junior Varsity (JV) team was also full of talent, but they realized that the team needed each individual in order to be successful. Additionally, the JV team had “virtually no team disruptors” while the Varsity team had several and there was no one leader (Snook, p. 7).

Coach P realized the importance of the psychological factors of those on a team and turned to the Center for Enhanced Performance (CEP) at West Point in order to seek assistance with the team dynamics and overcome their issues. Coach P, through the guidance of the CEP employed a series of training techniques designed to utilize the “beliefs, attitudes, and thinking habits that help develop the confidence, concentration and motivation needed to achieve one’s full potential (Snook, p. 7). Coach P encouraged the teams to email each other in order to show support and develop each others winning mentality. The JV team fully embraced this concept while the Varsity team did not and thought it was too “touchy-feely” tying into their feelings of superiority (Snook, p. 7).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Question 3 The coach played the part of putting together the best possible crew team. He did this by collecting data of each of the sixteen members that would make up the two boat crews. The data he collected represented the research suggested were the key ingredients to being the best crew member. According to his data he had the best eight crew members in the varsity boat and the remaining eight crew members in the junior varsity boat. As we read through their story, we saw that data is not the only way to measure the best crew. The coach did not provide the team coaching as described by Wageman instead he played more of a data analysis role when building his team and it showed in the crew teams results.

When it comes to sport there is a lot that analytics can uncover and help bring out advantages for a team. The problem that the Army Crew Team faced was that analytics was the only measuring stick used to build the best rowing team. At one point the coach did attempt to solve the problem by looking at who were leaders and who were followers but did not seem to commit to making the adjustment. Instead, he went back to his analytics and ultimately the crew team that had the best numbers.

The coach did not provide the team coaching as described by Wageman. He did attempt to create an environment where the team could communicate openly and freely four days before the final races but by them it seemed to be too late to solve the problems that the team was dealing with. He also attempted to look at the data differently but again he did not commit to making a change with his boat crews. Lastly, it seems he did not attempt to solve the problem until it was to late and by the end of the season when the team was looking forward to the season ending there was nothing that could be done to resolve the issue.