During all of our filming we’ve been extremely fortunate to capture
some great business wisdom from a huge cross section of people. One of
my favourite bits of advice came from David Melville, who was the
skipper of BP Ocean Racing, a round the world yacht team.
Being cooped-up in a wet and cold boat for 12 months can result in some
tricky team dynamics and David had some simple advice. He observed that
in most teams there was normally an idiot, or someone who would get on
everyone’s nerves. His advice is that everyday you ask yourself “am I
the idiot?” That way you'll make a better team player.
Ring any bells? I can certainly picture some over eager assessment
centre candidates who would have benefitted from asking themselves that
question. Of course, you do have to avoid the dangers of the self-fulfilling prophecy.