Sharing a joke - the vital role of humour in a team

This is one of a series of articles on lessons from Commando training. Here is the full list.

Standing on a wooden box at the front of the gym, wearing tight white vest and shorts, Sergeant Jordan demonstrated the first move in our physical training session, and in a deliberate falsetto shouted:

"Feet shoulder width apart! Except in my case where obviously that's not possible!"

To many, the stereotypical image of military training is a sergeant shouting at a bewildered recruit. My recollections are very different - my main memory of my training is the laughter, not the shouting. Jokes and humour have a vital role to play in forming a team's self-view, and add spice to the narrative that the team develops. If you want your team to gel, think about the role that humour plays while the team is together - does it reinforce a sense of shared identity and purpose, encourage a light-hearted attitude to challenges and reward efforts, or is it undermining motivation and alienating team members?

Among Physical Training Instructors (PTIs), the arts of entertainment and motivation are totally intertwined. As they push recruits to ever greater feats of physical achievement, they distract them from the pain with volleys of comical remarks that range from poking fun at stragglers to self-parody. A common feature of PTI humour is the humility that is inculcated into every Royal Marine recruit. As the guardians of the physical standards of the Corps, the PTIs deliberately play the parts of the peacocks among the camouflage of the other specialists. Two years after first hearing Sgt Jordan in the gym, I was back at Lympstone training recruits. One day they were trying on new uniforms and I overheard a familiar voice as Sgt Jordan joined them in the changing room -

"Don't be afraid men, but I'm about to take my shirt off"

Of course humour is often subversive, and most jokes have a victim. While it can play a useful part in team bonding, it can also embed a culture of exclusion or cynicism. The mood of a workplace is often most clearly expressed in the jokes people crack there. Sexism, racism and many other vices are often betrayed in jokes, and listening to the banter around the water cooler can often give the most informative insight into the real values of a company or organisation.
But humour can also play an important role in helping people deal with fear or discomfort. Studies of people in stressful roles in the military and emergency services routinely show that humour helps alleviate stress and protects people from psychological harm.

If you can't take a joke you shouldn't have joined

One of the most unpleasant topics we covered in training was Nuclear, Biological and Chemical warfare (NBC). Studying the effects of chemical and nuclear weapons is a shocking experience, since these weapons kill and maim in very brutal ways. As we donned our full protective outfits - known as Three Romeo (level 3 for the inclusion of rubber overboots and double layer gloves, romeo as the phonetic "R" in "respirator" - and practiced various military exercises peering out at the world through the small eyeglasses of the S10 Respirator (gas mask), it was certainly difficult to see the funny side. The only light relief came from our NBC instructor who introduced the concept of Zero Romeo - himself naked apart from the obligatory gas mask.

Without explicitly deciding that to master NBC we needed to be able to find its funny side, we continued our training and put thoughts of blister agent and secondary blast to the back of our minds. However, as our training approached its conclusion, we set about preparing a presentation for our families, designed to explain to them what we had been doing for the previous 15 months. We tried to cover all aspects of our training in a light-hearted but informative way. Just about everything from the bizarre equipment inspections and gym exercises to the competitive spirit of the group and the drama of our exercises at sea and on land had great comedy potential, but NBC was the unfunny exception.

A joke that bombed

We decided to tackle it head on. We would dim the lights, show a picture of a mushroom cloud on the projection screen, and one of our number would silently walk to the front of the stage and read from the publication "Survive to Fight", the nuclear warfare pamphlet. He would read the section explaining what to do when a nuclear bomb goes off nearby (lie down with your feet towards the blast and your hand under your body to minimise burns, do not attempt to stand up until the second shockwave has passed etc). We thought that with the right deadpan delivery, this would amply illustrate the futility of soldiering in a nuclear battle and raise some wry smiles. Unfortunately, senior officers thought that some of our families might not see the funny side, so the sketch was withdrawn from our presentation!

Always look on the bright side

One of the 4 Commando qualities is cheerfulness in the face of adversity, and humour is the bedrock on which this is built. A sense of humour is seen as a vital aspect of team membership. Not everyone is born a comedian, and not everyone finds every joke funny, but it is the steady accumulation of challenges laughed through and fears trumped by smiles that build the narrative that holds a team together. Whether your team is preparing to don protective clothing or launch a new product, humour can help you work together.

This is one of a series of articles on lessons from Commando training. Here is the full list.

Even superheroes need teammates

This is one of a series of articles on lessons from Commando training.  Here is the full list.

There can be few decisions more important than choosing the members of your team. Whatever you do, the people around you shape your world and can greatly increase - or reduce - your ability to achieve.

One night in Exeter, I was out with some friends. I was running short of cash, so I left one pub early and went to find a cash machine on the route to the pub we were planning to visit next. It was a dank night and as I waited for the ATM to authorise my request, I noticed a trio of shady looking characters who were moving closer making threatening noises. Something about me was upsetting them, and they clearly meant trouble.

It might have been that they wanted to take my money or card, but I didn't think so. It sounded as though they had a problem with the way I was dressed, and they were clearly drawing other conclusions about me from my outfit.

As I stood there wondering whether my card and cash would be released before they arrived, I understood why. I was standing in a pair of running shoes, tight lycra tracksuit bottoms with swimming trunks over the top, and above my tight T-shirt I wore a cape made of red crepe material. My face was covered with a red crepe superhero mask. This is not normal - or at least not in Exeter.

I had a few moments to consider my options - fight, flight, negotiate. I didn't want to abandon my card and cash - flight would be quite costly. On the other hand,  I didn't fancy my chances as a negotiator since I probably wouldn't get the chance to explain that my friends and I had found several meters of crepe and agreed that a superheroes "run ashore" (Royal Marines expression meaning "night out") would be a good idea. So that left fighting.

As the three menacing shapes moved closer I carried out a quick "combat estimate" - the formal process by which a military commander is supposed to weigh the relative strengths of his own forces and those of his opponent. I was outnumbered 3 to 1. I was wearing rather unsuitable clothes. My cape in particular could cause a lot of trouble tangled around my neck. Worst of all, if I was involved in a fight with civilians I would almost certainly lose my job.

I stayed by the cash machine, hoping it would yield my card and cash, but it steadfastly refused to do so. The trio moved ever closer. By now I could see their hate-filled faces and hear their abuse more clearly. They had clearly decided that I deserved some kind of corrective treatment.

As I watched their approaching faces, I noticed a sudden change. Hate turned to surprise, and then quickly to fear. They stopped in their tracks, hesitated and looked at each other, then turned and ran away.

Slightly surprised, I looked behind me. Approaching, illuminated by a street lamp and silhouetted against the shiny damp street beneath their feet, a band of about 20 superheroes were approaching. Their capes billowed as they strode towards me, shimmering slightly as lycra stretched over muscle. My friends had decided it was time to move on to the next pub.

For me the main reason to join the Royal Marines was the quality of the people I met who were already enlisted. I knew that whatever the circumstances they were a good team to be a part of. In dangerous situations, I could expect my colleagues to be courageous, determined, unselfish and cheerful, and in less dangerous environments I knew they would be good fun and not too serious.

If you lead a team then giving them a sense that they belong to a great group has got to be a top priority - here are some thoughts on boosting team performance without increasing costs. If you're in a team and you don't feel that it's a great team, it's time to make a change. Either find a way to make the team better - or if you cannot do that then leave.

We tend to become more like the people we spend time with, so it makes sense to surround yourself with people you can rely on and admire. You may not always fit in with the locals though.

This is one of a series of articles on lessons from Commando training.  Here is the full list.

It's time for Google to retune its tactfulness algorithm

Suitable for brain tumour patients?

I recently posted about how reviews can boost Google rankings. Google does a great job of helping us find what we are looking for by incorporating third party information such as reviews and links, and it also crawls websites assessing content and context.

As a result the ads it posts on publisher sites like this one are usually relevant to the content of the site. The famous Google algorithm that matches content with ads is at the heart of their corporate success - but maybe it needs a tactfulness tweak...

Six months ago, shortly after I posted on the subject of headaches, Google started serving this advert on my blog (pictured left), in the advertising panel just to the right of this post. I don't know what the ad was for (clicking on it would be a breach of the Adsense publishers terms and conditions), but since my post was about my surgery and lucky escape from a brain tumour, it probably wasn't the most suitable ad to serve.

From time to time since, I've seen the ad appearing on my blog - you might even see it now if you look to the right. I hope it isn't causing any offense to people whose experience of brain tumours has not been as positive as mine. Perhaps I'm being unfair - perhaps the advertiser really can help you reclaim your brain, improve memory and increase brain performance. Unfortunately I'm contractually forbidden from finding out.

Initiation ceremonies - how to welcome new recruits

This is one of a series of articles on lessons from Commando training.  Here is the full list.

Joining a new organisation (company, team, club) can be exciting and alarming at the same time. Some organisations make great efforts to welcome new members with introductions, mentoring, briefings and feedback forms. The Royal Marines take - or took - a rather different approach...

If you are responsible for helping people adjust, or if you are joining an unfamiliar organisation, you've probably given some thought to what creates a sense of belonging. Once new members feel at home in a team they are likely to adopt group values, bond with teammates and work more productively together.

Theorists often suggest that team formation follows a forming, storming, norming, performing sequence, and leaders usually try to usher teams through these stages as rapidly as possible - to get team members comfortable together and delivering results.

Few theorists mention the dread words "Initiation Ceremony", but I think it is worth considering the part that initiation can play in accelerating team formation. A quick immersion in a new organisation can dispel fears and build a sense of belonging faster and more deeply than more conventional confidence-building measures. Here is my experience.

Anticipation

I joined the Royal Marines at 1200 BST on 6 September 1995.  By 1300 the 36 new recruits of whom I was one had discovered the rumour that in parallel to the formal induction we were going through, we could expect an informal welcome to the Corps.  As we adjusted to the strange formality of our new home at the Commando Training Centre, we wondered what horrors this mysterious event would involve.  Since our first briefings outlined the busy timetable for the first few days, it looked as though the initiation ceremony would probably be at night.  We therefore braced ourselves for some kind of shock sometime that night.

In the event, our first night was uneventful (apart from practicing our newly taught ironing skills and folding almost every item of our freshly issued equipment into A4 size).  We rose at 0600 to clean our accommodation and prepare for day 2.

Action

We soon learned that the intake of trainees who had joined before us were away on exercise. We had discovered that they were planning to "welcome" us so we were confident that nothing would happen before their return.  Sure enough, on the night their exercise finished, we were woken at 0300 by the sound of dustbin lids being clashed like cymbals, sirens and shouting. Well prepared, we raced out of the building already in our shorts, t-shirts and running shoes, only to be caught in the beams of several powerful lights and jets of water from fire hoses. Trapped, we formed into a group as unseen people behind the lights and hoses shouted instructions.

Three of us were immediately singled out for special attention. I had featured in a television documentary following the selection process for Royal Marines officers, while each of the other two had some previous military experience, one in the SAS and the other with the Parachute Regiment. While we were "encouraged" into stress positions, the remaining 33 recruits, still illuminated by a dozen torches, ran up and down a nearby hill.

Breakage

After a few minutes, and to our great relief we were allowed to rejoin the fold. Together, we were commanded to run back and forth several times between various flashing lights. In the darkness few people spotted some ruts on our path. Two people fell over. One broke his leg immediately, while the other was unhurt by the fall, but not by the impact of the man behind him who ran over his body and broke a bone in his back. While 4 people were instructed to carry the casualties to the medical centre, the rest of us raced on towards the Bottom Field, home of the assault course.

The catalogue of challenges that we endured over the next 90 minutes is too long to list, but highlights included:

1. "fruitbats" - hanging from rusty angle-iron beams and doing endless pull-ups
2. baby-carrying each other up and down a steep hill in shuttle relays
3. running out into the estuary mud and practicing leopard crawling
4. a false finish in which we returned to our accommodation only to start again

Finally, we returned to our quarters and the torches were switched off. We saw our oppressors for the first time as they came forward offering us plastic cups full of rum and welcoming us into the Royal Marines. They assured us that our injured friends were receiving treatment.

The morning after - and we belong

With less than an hour of sleep after the ceremony, we awoke to start a new day. Though we had been in the Corps for less than a week there was a palpable change of mood. During a short, sharp and strange event, we had sampled - and survived - almost all of the challenges we would take on over the coming months of training. We felt confident that we were ready for anything, and also that we had sufficient humour and team spirit to see us through.

Another important if unpalatable factor in our sense that we had completed a rite of passage was the loss of two of our colleagues. Their injuries prevented them from completing their training with us (though both had recovered sufficiently to join the following intake), and this enhanced our sense that we were now part of a special club that ruthlessly competed and focused on performance.

Too high a price

Traditionally, the chain of command had turned a blind eye to the initiation ceremony, but with the loss of two trainees (at considerable cost to the taxpayer), this approach changed.  Our initiation ceremony was the last of its kind, and we welcomed the following intake with an elaborate but victimless practical joke.

The importance of motive, respect and humour

I believe that while the human cost of our initiation ceremony was high, it was a very effective introduction to our new profession. A brief shock gave us more of a sense of belonging than the issuing of our new uniforms, or words of welcome from high-ranking officers.

I would not recommend any attempt to try to recreate the ceremony I have described, but I believe that it is useful to abstract certain ingredients that can help teams to integrate, and new members to feel that they belong and are ready to play a full part in the team:

1. the opportunity to confront the full spectrum of team challenges early
2. recognition by established team members
3. establishing the sense of the privilege of membership

Most important of all, our initiation ceremony was successful as a team development experience because the people who initiated us were motivated not by a desire to inflict pain or humiliation, but by pride in their organisation and the wish to test their newest colleagues. They treated us with respect and humour.

The Royal Marines use the expression "if you can't take a joke you shouldn't have joined". It was a harsh, brutal joke, but we enjoyed it, and we knew we belonged to the organisation we had so recently joined.

This is one of a series of articles on lessons from Commando training.  Here is the full list.

21 tips for life

I recently met with a family friend who very kindly offered me some advice.  We spoke for an hour and he has since introduced me to several very interesting people and new opportunities.  He is 77 and has lived an impressively varied life, most recently becoming a film extra.  As we parted he passed me an A4 sheet with a list of aphorisms which he had collected together to offer at the 21st birthday of a friend of his.

Here they are:

1. This above all - to thine own self be true. (Hamlet Act I Sc 3)
2. Half the battle in life is to decide what is important and what is not.  Have a sense of priorities.
3. Reflect a lot and then take action absolutely secure. (Pope John Paul II)
4. Ambition should be to make the most of oneself, not only for one's own sake but for one's family, friends and the world in general.
5. Never be too proud to listen to advice, remember, you need not take it.
6. Try not to indulge in self pity; others will have even bigger crosses to bear.
7. Always carry a little slate with you and wipe it regularly clean of all grudges. (Sir Winston Churchill)
8. Regardless of how much or little money you may have, it is a subject best talked about only selectively.
9. Be a good listener; it will help you develop an enquiring mind.
10. I think one has to be ready to start all over again any number of times. (Abbot Herbert Byrne)
11. Try to be an independent thinker.  It is necessary if you are to keep your personal integrity.
12. Make the best rather than the worst of people; it is both right and rewarding to do so.
13. Live as if you are to die tomorrow, learn as if you are to live for ever. (Erasmus of Rotterdam)
14. Imagination and patience solve many problems.
15. Always try to turn adversity to advantage; it usually can be, sometimes dramatically.
16. Why use a five dollar word, when a ten cent one will do. (Ernest Hemmingway)
17. There is a right and a wrong way of doing most things in life be they personal or practical.
18. Life is made up of opportunities few of which recur.  Remain alert.
19. What you do not wish done to yourself, do not do to others. (Confucius)
20. A sense of humour enhances life as also does a smile.  They cost nothing.
21. Use your mind as well as your emotions in all important decisions, especially in matters of the heart.
22. One extra - In short, there are three things that last: faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love. (St Paul I Corinthians Ch 13)

What advice would you give - or wish you had received?

Name and no shame - in praise of great suppliers

Yesterday I met up with Craig Dearden-Phillips for the first time.  Craig is embarking on a new venture - Stepping Out - and you can follow his entrepreneurial journey on his blog here.

We discussed the pros and cons of working with other people - the pleasure of finding those with real talent and commitment, and the challenges of creating incentive structures that align the interests of all the people involved in a project.

This set me thinking about some of the most rewarding relationships I have experienced with suppliers (in the broad sense - people or organisations that supply resources, labour or capital).  Over the years I've been lucky enough to deal with some very impressive people, and I set myself the test to work out what shared characteristics they have.  Here's my list so far:

1. Great passion for what they do
2. Curiosity about how they can help
3. Willingness to share risk
4. Sense of humour

This list may not be complete, so please suggest any additions or amendments, but for me it is a pretty good guide.

Here are some examples that stand out for me - people who've really gone above and beyond the call of duty:

Bellamy Studio

Paul Bellamy designed the branding and layouts of Bmycharity and Giftshare, and as we developed our services we came to look on him as the third member of our team.  He is a creative designer who coordinates seamlessly both with technologists and marketeers, and sets himself and his team exacting standards.  Although I've worked with Paul for several years I've never met him in person - but I have no hesitation in recommending him.  He is a pleasure to work with, and he really delivers.

Richardsons Chartered Accountants

Simon Husband and his team are the most entertaining accountants I know.  After discovering that our original accountants were overcharging, I approached Richardsons and they demonstrated that they could deliver more for less.  Simon's jokes about VAT on carrots are funny, but they also belie a deep knowledge of his subject and an imaginative streak that promises to find the best way to achieve bottom line results.

Capital SCF

James Clark and his team at Capital SCF advised us on our corporate strategy as we prepared to sell Bmycharity.  James introduced me to the expression "skin in the game" - and he joined us in the risks as well as the rewards of what we were doing.  James's knowledge of technology and business strategy is exceptional and I'll want him on my side of the table next time around!

Do you have any suppliers you think merit a mention?  Or can you think of other characteristics of great suppliers?  Please share your ideas here!