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Case Study # 1: The War Fighter

If you don’t know who the guy to your left and right is, why would you fight for him?

Too often the words, ‘family” and “brotherhood” are used when describing the chemistry or pulse of the team. How often do those words ring true? If you are looking to create teams that are successful, emphasizing the importance of authenticity is a good start. When we set out to identify the behavior of teams that “work” we noticed that we could sense a buzz in a team even if we didn’t fully understand what the members were talking about. This buzz suggests that the key to high performance lay not in the content of a team’s discussion, but in the manner in which it was communicating.

During one of our NFL team building events, our human performance psychologists and behavioral experts collected data on the team members individual communication behaviors – tone of voice, body language, whom they talked to and how much, and more. With remarkable consistency, our collected data confirmed that communication plays a crucial role in building successful teams. In fact, we’ve found patterns of communication to be the most important predictor of a team’s success.

How can you fight for the guy next to you if you don’t even know who he is?

Our research has shown that the best predictors of productivity are a team’s energy and engagement outside formal meetings. This is exactly why Mission 6 Zero team events are so helpful in identifying individual and team communication and providing our clients the tools and data they need to accurately dissect and engineer high performance. Building great teams is a science. Mission 6 Zero doesn’t just talk about our combat experiences, we use science to bring those experiences to common ground with our clients. In combat, you fight for the man to your left and to your right because you know him as a person, you know his family, and you are his friend. During intense firefights, I assure you, the warfighter is not thinking about America, their hometown, what religion they are, or what political party the affiliate with. When things get really bad, the warfighter is thinking only of his team. During a true moment of chaos, if properly trained, the warfighter’s biggest fear is to let down the teammate to his left or right. The warfighter knows that his team won’t let him down and no matter what, he won’t let his team down either. He is going to do his job and he is going to do it well. The warfighter fights for his team…because they are truly his brothers.

After an event, I asked one of the participants, Pat*, an all-pro guard, what he thought of the exercise. Pat said, “this is exactly what we need.” I asked Pat, “Why is this exactly what you need?” Pat responded, “Kyle*and I have been on the same team for three years now. The first time I’ve ever said ‘A’ word to him was ten minutes ago.”

Kyle is a backup tight end. Pat and Kyle have been on the same team for three years in a row. As an offensive guard and tight end, they work essentially right beside each other. The first time they ever spoke to each other was during one of Mission 6 Zero’s team events.

Our research has shown that the best predictor of productivity is a team’s ability to communicate with each other outside the workplace.  We measure this communication through the level of energy and engagement outside formal meetings.  This is exactly why Mission 6 Zero team events are so helpful in identifying individual and team communication and providing our clients the tools and data they need to accurately dissect and engineer high performance. Better communication equals increased productivity. Our clients are better equipped to not only be better at receiving feedback, but also spend more effort helping their teammates improve through effective constructive criticism. An ever learning organization evolves faster than those that do not have the same internal processes to spur growth.  Building great teams is a science. Mission 6 Zero doesn’t just talk about our combat experiences, we use science to bring those experiences to common ground with our clients. 

After our event, Mission 6 Zero stressed the importance of adjacent unit communication with our NFL client. Mission 6 Zero instructors provided tools and data to our client to help them promote outside formal meeting engagement.  As a result, the team improved by two games in the win column as well as enjoyed career best season from players along their offensive line, most notably Pat* and Kyle*. Kyle, especially, increased his productivity by catching five times as many passes the year prior along with several more touchdowns. Kyle admitted that he was more comfortable with his situation and improved communication and social acceptance was a significant factor in the quantifiable improvement.     

In combat, you fight for the man to your left and to your right because you know him as a person, you know his family, and you are his friend. During intense firefights, I assure you, the warfighter is not thinking about America, their hometown, what religion they are, or what political party they affiliate with. When things get really bad, the warfighter is thinking only of his team. During a true moment of chaos, if properly trained, the warfighter’s biggest fear is to let down the teammate to his left or right. The warfighter knows that his team won’t let him down and no matter what, he won’t let his team down either. He is going to do his job and he is going to do it well. The warfighter fights for his team…because they are truly his brothers. The warfighter fights out of love.

Additional reading: https://hbr.org/2012/04/the-new-science-of-building-great-teams

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Case Study # 2: The Big Bad Gunslinger

How well do you know the people on your team?

Following extensive background checks on specifically identified players, Mission 6 Zero begins our NFL player assessment experience with a clandestine observation of the designated player both during practice and off the field.  As we prepared our customized experience, we were told by one of the coaches, “If anybody is going to have a hard time during your events, or is going to quit, it’s going to be Ricky…. I don’t think he is going to be able to make it.”  I asked why. “It’s just consistency and effort,” the coach responded. “Ricky plays like an all pro on first down, but he doesn’t put forth any effort on second or third down.” Why do you have him on the team then? “I’ve come close to releasing him, but I just can’t do it,” the coach continued. “Ricky plays well on first down….he’s a high pick….and cutting him would cost us millions of dollars…. not to mention we’d have to find him a replacement which would cost us millions of dollars AND a high round draft pick.”  

During practice, a specially selected Mission 6 Zero instructor provided his feedback on Ricky*, a former high first round draft pick defensive lineman. “Overall, Ricky was impressive when he was engaging another football player—whether during 11-on-11 play or during drills in which another player was holding a pad or was trying to contain him. Unfortunately, he looked fairly unremarkable when engaging the sled or when going up against a “ghost” player. When not engaged in a drill or other team activity, Ricky simply appeared to be lethargic or disinterested. Regardless, the vibe he sends out is not one of excitement or even interest.  The first thing I would do is order Ricky a sleep study. It’s hard to imagine someone, especially a professional athlete who is surrounded by top performers, lacking even the basic self-awareness required to realize what kind of message his body language communicates to others. If the sleep study turns up nothing conclusive, I would consult a dietician, a counselor, someone to figure out if there’s a legitimate cause for Ricky’s apparent fatigue.” 

On the practice field, Ricky exhibited body language that communicated an extreme lack of motivation that bordered on disinterest. Yet his explosiveness and potential as a physically formidable force on the field was readily apparent. Our mission 6 Zero instructor noted, “I remember watching him and thinking, “If my commander told me ‘that guy’ was coming to my A-Team, I would order him a sleep study for the first thing on Monday morning.” I mean, Ricky is obviously an imposing figure on the field. I just didn’t see any fire in him. It made me wonder how someone could get to the NFL and yet be so apparently averse to physical output.” I found my answer two days later.

After the Mission 6 Zero intangibles assessment, Ricky and I sat down for the out-brief and talked for an hour non-stop. While this giant of a guy sat in front of me, I thought back to the practice field a couple days before. I asked, “What’s your pre-game ritual? What are Saturdays like for you?” Ricky said he “pretty much just chills out.” When I asked what that meant, he explained that he just hangs out and watches movies and TV series on Netflix. I asked how late he stays up doing that, to which he replied “until about 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning—just like most nights.” I just smiled. My suspicion was validated. Ricky doesn’t sleep. Ricky is tired first thing every morning. And he just goes downhill from there.

As Ricky and I moved beyond the formal evaluation feedback, I began to dig.  Ricky’s family and friends are all on the east coast. He’s fairly isolated from those closest to his heart. Ricky lives in the Extended Stay hotel within walking distance of the practice fields because house hunting always seems to end in disappointment. (Inconveniently, the houses he has most recently bid on have sold to someone else in the final hour.) Ricky has been living at this hotel for nearly three years! A multi-millionaire NFL player living at a hotel for three years doing nothing but staying up until 4:00 am watching Netflix every day.  

Furthermore, Ricky’s teammates openly talked about how Ricky’s “lazy ass is probably kicked back eating cupcakes underneath a shade tree.” I would hear this later as I walked with other teams. Ricky wasn’t present when I heard this and similar comments, but the players all burst into uproarious laughter at these remarks—and there were several. My guess is, Ricky has heard plenty of that sort of banter. And he just might have heard that sort of thing his whole life.

After the out-brief, Ricky and I ended up having a really good conversation. Ricky opened up to me, as is often the case following an emotionally exhausting event like the Mission 6 Zero Intangibles assessment. I learned that Ricky is lonely and alienated. Ricky is no stranger to the not-so-friendly ribbing he receives from some players on the team. I can see him enduring the same, or worse, when he was a kid and all the years since. He may well be depressed, although I’m not qualified to render a clinical diagnosis. I’m just a Green Beret. But over the years, I’ve learned to detect when a teammate is down, when things aren’t quite right with someone on my left or right, when a “big bad gunslinger” is in need.

It is my opinion that Ricky is not just “up late” throwing marathon Netflix parties-for-one because he’s that into movies and TV series. I think he’s watching Netflix because it’s something he can do alone, something with which he can occupy his time since he knows he’s going to be awake anyway. I believe television just fills a void for Ricky. And that’s why he’s sleep deprived every day. That’s why he seems disinterested and unmotivated. That is why Ricky underperforms even though he’s such a physically gifted athlete.

A few days later, our Mission 6 Zero instructors presented our findings to the coaching staff. When we arrived at Ricky’s assessment, the coaching staff was excited, “ok, I’m dying to know how Ricky performed.”  We asked, “Do you know where Ricky lives?” Silence in the room. A coach asked, “no, where?” I pointed across the street to the Extended Stay. Ricky lives there. He’s been living there for three years. We then went on to explain our findings. We addressed Ricky’s chronic sleep deprivation and the contributing factors to his lack of sleep. We talked about how Ricky starts his days “on empty” which is siphoning off his physical energy, mental toughness, and possibly his emotional resiliency. We discussed Ricky’s lack of peer support, personal friendship, and general happiness.

Everything we discussed is an issue that is solvable; rest, security, and social interaction (camaraderie).

After the overall assessment, one of the coaches said, “I can’t believe that about Ricky, I had no idea.” “You know we were just discussing today about cutting Ricky,” the coach continued. “Knowing  what we know now, we definitely won’t be doing that.” “You guys literally just saved us millions of dollars and wasted time spent on paying his owed salary, finding someone to replace him, possibly drafting someone to replace him, AND spending money on that player’s salary!”

In combat, you fight for the man to your left and to your right because you know him as a person, you know his family, and you are his friend. Because of our experiences, there are times when that “big, bad gunslinger” is having a difficult time emotionally. According to statistics, 22 veterans commit suicide every day. Sometimes, the military’s deadliest battlegrounds aren’t across the globe, they are across the street. Sometimes, coming home from war is more dangerous than leaving to fight in one. During these moments, it’s up to you to be able to identify the signs of a teammate in distress. There is a power in vulnerability.  The gunslinger knows that his team won’t let him down and no matter what, he won’t let his team down either. When needed, the gunslinger is going to reach out and offer help. The gunslinger fights for his team…because they are truly his brothers. The gunslinger fights out of love.

*Name changed

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Case Study # 3: The Force Multiplier

How do you define ‘grit’?

Mission 6 Zero prepared a Life Skills presentation for the Minnesota Vikings specifically focused on guidance from their head coach, Mike Zimmer, “I want you to help my guys with overcoming adversity, being resilient, and grit.” A few weeks after the Mission 6 Zero Life Skills presentation, the internalization of our message about overcoming adversity and having grit revealed itself in an incredible display of selflessness and toughness.

Star Minnesota Vikings safety Antone Exum knew he was badly hurt during a game earlier this month. But even with thoughts about his own mortality crossing his mind, the Minnesota Vikings' safety chose to stay in the game.

"Thoughts went through my head: 'I could die out there,' just for the simple fact that I didn't know what the problem was," Exum told the St. Paul Pioneer Press in an email. "But I knew we didn't have anyone else [to play] safety."

Exum suffered a fractured rib and an injured AC joint in his shoulder trying to tackle Seattle Seahawks tight end Luke Willson in the first quarter of a game Dec. 6. However, because the Vikings were short-handed at the position, he chose to keep playing even though he wasn't able to run at full speed with the injuries.

"I was feeling a pain in my chest with every breath and motion," Exum wrote to the Pioneer Press. "It was scary because I didn't know what it was."

Antone Exum played after suffering a fractured rib in a game vs. Seattle earlier this month. "I was feeling a pain in my chest with every breath and motion," Exum told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "It was scary because I didn't know what it was." 

He was placed on injured reserve two days after the game.

"I knew that the way I compete sticks to a code of never giving up," Exum wrote to the Pioneer Press. "I knew that it means a lot to the guys next to me. Therefore, I couldn't come out.

"I know I didn't play my best game, and that hurts me because I left it all on the field from an effort standpoint and we came up short. But I'm a warrior and made a choice to keep playing when I thought my life could have possibly been on the line. That, I can live with."