Expedition behavior

It's been an interesting week in college football.  Aside from the ongoing drama (Who's in and who's out?) of the NCAA FBS (Football Bowel Division) College Football Playoff rankings that will be released today, we've witnessed the usual end of the year coaching carousel (see an older post, "You're fired!").  Two head coaches (Oklahoma's Lincoln Riley and Notre Dame's Brian Kelly) from two of the most storied programs in all of football left to go coach at two other so-called "blue blood" programs.  The manner with which one of these coaches (the former Notre Dame head coach) was far from ideal (although true to form based on his past departures).  Kelly reportedly let his coaching staff and players know that he was leaving via text message while he was away on a recruiting trip.  Rubbing the proverbial salt in the wound, he even tried to entice key members of Notre Dame's coaching staff to join him.  As the pundits continue to say, college football is a business, and sometimes business stinks.

I don't want to talk about Brian Kelly.  What I do want to talk about is what happened after he announced that he was leaving Notre Dame to be the new head football coach at LSU.  The players rallied around their coaches, and the assistant coaches rallied around the players.  None of the coaches followed Kelly to LSU (at least so far), telling the players that they were committed to staying and finishing the season at Notre Dame.  Take a look at the video of Offensive Coordinator Tommy Rees telling the team that he was staying.  More importantly, check out the video of how the Notre Dame players welcome the former Defensive Coordinator and now Head Coach, Marcus Freeman for the first time as the head coach.  Lastly, check out what Coach Freeman tells his players about what is important and how they need to finish the season together.  

I suspect that the football players at Notre Dame went through an emotional rollercoaster this past week.  The behavior of everyone in the program (aside from the former head coach, of course), from players to coaches to administrative staff beautifully illustrated something known as "expedition behavior" - placing the needs of the collective whole first and foremost above the needs of the many individuals.  The term was first used and described by the legendary mountaineer Paul Petzoldt for his National Outdoor Leadership School, which he founded in 1965.

"Expedition Behavior" is all about the team.  "Expedition Behavior" is how teams consistently perform at a high level, even when faced with unpredictable and unexpected risks.  When I think about high-perfomance teams, I of course think about High Reliability Organizations.  These organizations recognize that their success depends upon how the team works together to achieve a collective mission and vision.  To use another popular analogy, everyone in the boat is rowing in the same direction towards a common goal.

Who knows whether or not Coach Freeman will be a successful head coach.  It's certainly too early to tell for sure, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the University of Notre Dame's football team will be just fine.  They are in great hands, and the expedition will succeed.