What sailing can teach us

Sailing can teach us a lot about successful collaboration and leadership.  

Deciding to turn (tack or jibe) a sailboat without announcing the intent in a structured and well-understood sequence to your crew, and allowing them to prepare for it, can have catastrophic outcomes. Similarly in business, deciding to change direction without proper communication can cause a series of undesired and damaging events. In sailing, this is avoided by announcing the intention, then checking that everyone is ready, and finally pulling together to execute smoothly.

It's interesting to see how this works every time, even without deep relationships and despite different levels of experience across the crew.

The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects the wind to change. The realist adjusts his sails. - Unknown