9 lessons mushing taught me about teamwork
Working with athletes can be intimidating — especially if they train outside all year and radiate a raw, tough-as-nails intensity. They are all about doing what they have to do, and it’s not a good idea to get in their way.
I thought this as I approached the yard of Alaskan huskies for the first time, where it wasn’t clear if the sledding dogs here were super-friendly or stark mad. Some were jumping, others howling, some resting in their kennels, others standing on top of them. I relaxed a bit when I saw a friendly signal from most of them, a signal I know well from other dogs in my life: tails wagging! Being a dog guy, my tail was wagging too.
This winter, my debut in dogsledding went smoothly. Nobody got hurt and we all made it back to camp. Between night and day runs, I learned a lot by observing and being around these animals. It struck me that development and management teams could benefit themselves from the way sled dogs live, work and collaborate. See if you can sniff all nine lessons out in your own organization.
The dogs’ life
It takes time to get acclimated to the huskies’ off-the-charts energy and constant chorus of yelps and howls. Eventually we were all friends; some wanted plenty of touches, while a few had other preferences, just like people. Certain dogs were affectionate and some were not. That’s OK, since knowing the boundaries is a key skill to have here.
The folks in charge of this animal endeavor have dogsledding in their blood. Trasti & Trine (http://www.trastiogtrine.no) is named after Johnny Trasti, who looks after the guests, and also for Trine Lyrek, who runs the dog teams. Trasti & Trine is located about as far up into the Arctic Circle as people can easily go — Alta, Norway. Alta is part of Finnmark County, located at the 69th parallel (69°0′N 22°6′E) of latitudinal distance from the equator. (New York City, in comparison, is at the 32nd parallel.)
Trine’s dog team includes veterans of seven Iditarods. For those that do not know, the Iditarod is the world’s longest dogsled competition and takes place in Alaska. (Unlike so many sports, dogsledding doesn’t distinguish for gender, so men and women mushers can compete against each other in the same class. How refreshing.) Trine says she started her daughter Hanna early in the sport, saying she could mush before she could walk. Last year, Hanna Lyrek, 16, won the junior category in the northernmost dogsled race in the world — the Finnmarksløpet.
Each sled team has four dogs and two humans, with two “lead” dogs that set the pace, and two “wheel” dogs that have a good temperament so as not to be startled by the sled surging behind them. Genders and sizes for the dogs are mixed and matched. Trine says it’s best for them to be always working with new dogs in the pack, the older setting examples for the younger. (Often females in heat are placed in the front team to provide extra motivation.)
The dogs have names like Lego, who was one of the best leads, along with Daim, Tøffen, Köti, Mentos, Varri, Brûlée, Dallo, Japp and a few named Valp, which is what they call all puppies until they settle on a name.
Ready, set, mush!
After 10 minutes or so of training on the basics, we were given cards with our dogs’ names and positions. We walked to the yard and were tasked with finding the canines assigned to us, harnessing them and then placing them in the sled lineup. The pups tried to be patient as we fumbled around in the 9-degree cold — which was warm by their standards. (Key racing age is between 3 years to 7 years of age. Beyond that, the huskies are found good homes to live out their days.)
With five or six teams doing their preparatory work at once, you can imagine this is an active scene. These dogs know what is going to happen, and their focus is awesome — they want to go, go go. Like humans, dogs have social status within their packs. This order is kept in check by the lead or alpha dog, which coincidentally is often the calmest and seemingly most relaxed out of the pack.
That brings me to Lesson No. 1: Strong leaders have calm, focused energy.
Dogs react to energy and so do people. When the leader expresses nervous, inconsistent interactions, the rest follow and structure of the pack quickly devolves. Staying calm and focused is crucial for the lead dog to maintain cohesion in the pack.
Earlier I discussed preparation, which relates to Lesson No. 2: Bond before tackling the job at hand.
Our exercise of getting the dogs suited up and ready really was a ploy to have us bond with our dog team. It totally worked. We had to learn the yard, run around and find the right kennels, grab the right size harnesses, approach our huskies and harness every one. The edge of first meeting each other came off quick, and we discovered the personalities of our pack.
Not only do you become acquainted with each dog and where each one fits into the team, but also the people have to figure each other out. On a sled, there is a driver and a passenger who helps navigate and take care of any tangles in the dog lines; you switch halfway through the run.
That’s not at all trivial and is Lesson No. 3: Clearly define roles.
In a dog team, everyone has a stated role defined by the physical position within the organization. The musher drives the sled, and controls the starting, stopping and overall direction toward the destination. Senior and junior lead dogs up front set the pace for the rear dogs. Sometimes, usually in a race, a female in heat is placed up front to encourage the strong and young apprentice males in the rear. The dogs rotate teams when they go for runs to encourage socialization and to model behavior for each other.
After the initial intensity of leaving the yard on a sled, things settle down and the driving feels surprisingly easy, but such confidence can be fleeting. Out on the trail while switching drivers, my partner and I let our guard down for a second, which happened to be right when the sled ahead of us pulled away. Our dogs’ instinct kicked in and they took off running; we were caught off balance and thrown to the snow and ice.
This is the take-away for Lesson No. 4: There are going to be surprises.
We were warned that the dogs think it’s perfectly fine if drivers are not on board, because without that extra weight they can go faster! I had to chase down the sled and jump on the brake.
Indeed, life isn’t all smooth sailing. Poop happens. Sometimes it happens right in front of you and bounces around and hits your leg. Runaway sleds happen, even when the dogs really, really do like you. The group in front of you may stop suddenly right when you’re going fast. No matter how much you plan, something will catch you off guard, and no matter what you have to deal with it and get the team home safe.
More on this theme is Lesson No. 5: If you’re all mixed up, mix it up.
Lines get tangled on runs. Sometimes the dogs can sort it out themselves, and sometimes you need to stop and help them out. The musher often has to push the sled uphill so the dogs do not overexert themselves. Expect to get more involved when times get tough.
In addition, take a second to think about the mix. Is your team chock-full of dudes? Their interactions and the atmosphere around them may become unbalanced. Cliques form and the group becomes unapproachable. The same could be said for all-female teams. Diversifying the team makes it stronger, and that makes the company stronger.
After being thrown from the sled, racing up to it and stopping the dogs, it took a few minutes for us to catch our breath before we got going again.
But we did get back on track. That’s Lesson No. 6: Keep moving.
When the pack isn’t on task, mischief, infighting or some other nonsense stirs up. It’s important to set goals and even more so to set out toward them. For these dogs, the run is the goal. When we stopped, some dogs got physical with each other, some howled; others took a chance to lie down or roll in the snow. Once we mushed on, however, like clockwork they fell back in line and pulled together. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen, and I have seen aurora borealis!
Moving dogs are happy dogs, and how: Twice my sled team got airborne, which I had no idea was even possible. Good thing we hung onto Lesson No. 7: Stay alert at all times.
There is no phoning it in during dogsledding. As exciting and stimulating as it is, though, there are a few moments where you get distracted — and that’s when you make mushing mistakes.
So you have to remind yourself of what you’re doing and to recalibrate. Oh, and don’t forget Lesson No. 8: Take downtime.
Dogs can’t run 100% all the time and neither can people; they’ll burn out or possibly injure themselves. Encourage downtime and be sure everyone recharges batteries.
This downtime should be alone, relaxed and undistracted. Life works cyclically. Marathons are 26.2 miles because that is plenty of running for one day, and it’s important to rest afterward. Dogs’ downtime is hard-coded into the schedule by the board — I mean the humans!
There’s work, there’s rest and then there’s Lesson No. 9: Celebrate the wins.
Teams stay motivated when they feel inspired. Inspiration can come from acknowledgement of a job well done and through camaraderie. Back at the camp, we unharnessed the dogs together in the yard and gave them a look over. Then it was time for their treats. When racing, sled dogs can consume and burn as much as 10,000 calories a day.
As for the rest of us mushers, we sat around a fire and had tea and cake while hearing race stories of the champions we just worked with. We were a short-lived organization. Just the same, the bonding was strong.
The parallels between dogsled teams, delivery teams and startups in general are there, common truths evident in any high-performing group. Whether you’re a founder, musher or passenger of the sled, you have a role to play. Think about the dog teams of Alta before your next sprint. You’ll be better for it!
Jeremy is VP of Design at issuu and veteran of many team-building exercises. Special thanks to my good friends Nicole & Abbie who let me tag along on their family adventure. Shout-out to Anthony Lazarus for the editing and Joel Barnard for the tweaks!
