The power of team rituals
Now that it’s getting dark earlier, I hear the sound of taps each evening as it wafts over from Coast Guard Island. I know the bugle is recorded - it’s too perfect not to be. It’s sometimes a little late too - at 5:05, not 5:00 sharp. And, it has nothing to do with me. It’s pure coincidence that my office is separated from a Coast Guard base by only a narrow estuary. Like the rest of their announcements and drills, the bugle should be easy to ignore.
Why then do I have so much trouble concentrating on my work after the last note of Taps dies away? Why do I feel compelled to pack up and go home, like I’m late for an appointment? My sense of urgency surprises me.
I remember the sound of the bugle at girl scouts, summer camp, the race track I worked at one summer. When I hear a bugle, I know I’m supposed to be somewhere. With my whole group. Now.
The ritual signals commitment. The commitment of a group to a single activity.
A manager I work with recently started meeting with his leadership group every morning. He also printed out the entire department’s daily focus and distributed it to each worker. There was no other way to show his commitment to improving attendance, customer care and accountability. When someone failed to show up, they heard about it immediately. Within a week, his meeting went from being barely to fully attended. The department production stats got better as people focused on the right work each day. People looked and sounded more interested in their work. The team started taking ownership for the department. And that was only a week’s worth of ritualized commitment.
It seems the 3-step process that leads to this is fail-proof:1. Commit to a goal (play the guitar, for example). 2. Commit to an achievable process, or ritual, for achieving that goal (practice 5 minutes a day).3. Follow up and persist (missed today, will practice earlier in the day tomorrow).
What experience have you had with committing to a ritual?