Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll has successfully — some might say ruthlessly — learned how to thrive in the NFL by creating a culture of competition among his players to win every position on the field.
That’s how Russell Wilson rocketed from 3rd round draft pick to beating out a veteran the team had just paid handsomely to become the starting quarterback.
He just played better.
Most NFL teams have fierce competition for positions.
In Carroll’s version, very few positions are a lock even after rosters are set following the preseason.
You win your job in training camp and then throughout the season you keep it on what he calls Competition Wednesday.
It’s real, too. You bring your A-game to practice on Wednesday or you might lose playing time on Sunday.
This structure has the effect of speeding up goals and expectations into a week to week environment.
Interestingly, it also fosters a creativity and joy in his players that serves the common goal of winning.
It’s hard to get on Pete’s field on Sunday. If you are, there’s an element of joy and willingness to push yourself because next week you might not be there. Clearly, it works.
Technology companies are building spacious, large, open offices to foster creativity, connectivity, and teamwork in the ever-changing and dynamic worlds in which they operate as well.
Google and Amazon are among those leading this trend. Other industries are following suit, including the news business.
Locally, The Herald’s new publisher, Josh O’Connor, recently consolidated three separate floors in the organization’s former newsroom location in downtown Everett into a 20,000-square-foot single floor collaborative environment in an office about a dozen blocks away.
Collaboration, creativity, and adaptability are a premium in the news business as well and a big, open single floor fosters that best, O’Connor says.
This open space structure is rapidly becoming a trend throughout office design in many other industries as well.
The private office is no longer a status symbol because it cuts you off from the action. In today’s open work spaces, if you want some privacy you put on your headphones.
In addition to collaborative and creative juices that flow, business leaders and managers say these open office settings make it easier to see talent in action much like Carroll can on Wednesdays.
Like Carroll’s system, things speed up when everyone is exposed and engaged. That is done by intention because new ideas and the death of old ideas happens very fast in many industries now.
Where this ends is anybody’s guess. But building design and lay outs are decidedly more open and look nothing like offices even 10 years ago. It varies industry to industry and will, like all trends, settle into a sweet spot. In the mean time, if you’ve been in the workforce a while and this all seems odd, fear not.
For $20, you can buy a pair of headphones and fit right in.
Tom Hoban is CEO of The Coast Group of Companies. Contact him at 425-339-3638 or tomhoban@coastmgt.com or visit www.coastmgt.com.
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