Lessons from a Formula 1 race weekend

The Partnership

Beliefs are what define who we are.  Until a few months ago I believed that there would never be a sport that I could enjoy watching; avidly following any sporting event was something that "other" people did.  

All of this changed after one weekend in Abu Dhabi spending time with the McLaren Formula 1 racing team and watching how they built continuous improvement into every aspect of what they do daily. 

McLaren and GSK are working together in a unique partnership to share best practices across both companies.  You can read more about the partnership here.  

GSK follows the GSK Production System, probably the first Production System that uses concepts from Lean Manufacturing and applies it to the Pharma / Consumer Healthcare industry.  In line with the GSK ambition of having the best supply chain in all industries the GSK Production System (GPS) is a critical initiative  to continuously improving a world class supply chain organization. 

Few people would see any similarities between a Formula 1 racing team and a Pharmaceutical manufacturing company.  Surprisingly there is a lot that can be shared across two such seemingly dissimilar organizations. 

The GSK leadership team saw a unique opportunity to work with a high performing Formula 1 racing team to not only learn from them, but also share some of our insights and "tools" to help them drive performance.  Similar to a competitive F1 race, the Pharma industry functions in a highly regulated environment where strong teamwork is critical to "Winning". 

In a GSK context "Winning" means being able to deliver for the patient at the end of the Supply Chain.  Helping people do more, feel better, live longer.

Winning, for McLaren, is far more tangible and time bound.  In a work environment when you have multiple stakeholders, a mix of short term targets and long term strategic goals, the definition of winning can sometimes get fuzzy. For a Formula 1 team it's all about where your car finishes up after 305 kilometers (approx) and over the years McLaren has proven they know what it takes. 

Formed in 1963 by Bruce McLaren, the McLaren team has won more Grand Prix races than any other team in the history of Formula 1 racing.  With 182 Grand Prix wins and 20 world championships under their belt the McLaren team is a worthy partner for GSK. 

The Event

We assembled at the Abu Dhabi Yas Marina track along with Damian from the McLaren Technology Group.  One of the first highlights for us was interacting with Fernando Alonso, two time F1 World Champion driver from the McLaren Team. Hearing first hand about the challenges he faces both off an on the track helped set the context for us Problem-Solving focused Continuous-Improvement geeks. It was a unique experience to be able to interact with a high performing athlete in such an informal environment.

F1 racing is about so much more than 20 cars going around a track for 90 minutes.  As an engineer and a student of Lean I was attracted by both the technology and reliance on data. The icing on the cake was the pure rush of the engines!

The Learnings

The whole event was a series of practical learning experiences. Seeing the initial dissimilarity between the two industries and the slow realization that there was so much in common just added to the overall impact.

Here are the top 3 lessons I took away from the McLaren-GSK event in Abu Dhabi.

1. Communication, Communication, Communication

So there is a joke that makes the rounds at GE.  It's about one of the trainers at Croutonville who wasn't paying attention to Jack Welch during an inspirational talk that Jack was giving to a group of new executives.  Having heard Jack speak so often the trainer was sitting in the back of the auditorium reading a newspaper.  

Trying to catch the trainer off guard, Jack looks to him and asks,

"What do you think the secret is to good leadership?"

With no idea of the context, clueless of the ongoing discussion, and oblivious to the specific point Jack was making, the trainer says:

"Communication, communication, communication"

And he was right. 

Whether the anecdote is true or not, the message is valid.  Businesses run on communication.  Unfortunately, when you combine this truism with today's technology  you end up with a new truth - "Too much communication is worse than none"

With laptops, cell phones, blogs, twitter, yammer, email, Whatsap, SMS's it has become too easy for people to communicate.  The result being an overwhelming flood of information that employees must sort through every day to get real work done.  

What struck me about the Mclaren team was their ability to simplify the communication process so that people only got the information relevant to getting their job done.  When 0.2 seconds can make the difference between winning or losing you realize the importance of simple, focused communications.  

This is most evident when you observe the pitstop crews at work.  For those of you who have never seen a pit stop here is a great video by McLaren where Jenson Button talks about the importance of a good pitstop in winning a race. 

So one of the technology "tools" that the geek within me loved were the radios that connected everyone on the race team through the headsets. Have you ever wondered what they are talking about during the race? 

Well, through the GSK-McLaren partnership we had the unique opportunity to listen to the communications going on between the driver, pitstop crews and other team members during the race.  Anyone who has watched a Formula 1 race and seen the cars whizzing into the pit stops and shooting out in 2 seconds can imagine the amount of chaos, confusion and chatter on the radios during a pit stop to ensure everyone is working towards minimsing the pit time. 

WRONG!

What struck me most was the silence and lack of irrelevant communications. The only person that spoke to the driver was the main engineer.  He had the responsibility of filtering out the input from the different functions, including the remote support team that sat in Woking, UK.  No matter the crisis, the driver only got the input he needed to drive. Similarly during the pitstops the pitstop crew was only getting information that they needed. 

For a sport that is loud and fast paced, the communication channels were silent and calm!

Here is an example of a good pitstop by Jenson Button.

2. Know it, plan it, practice it

What helped facilitate the clear communications was every member on the team knew their role and had practiced extensively.  Not only did each team member know their own roles but they had also practiced a range of different potential scenarios. 

One of the goals of a Continuous Improvement program is to minimize the amount of time that people spend "fire-fighting".  No matter the role or industry we all face "unplanned" events on a regular basis.  Raw material didn't arrive, a machine broke down, someone didn't show up for work - all examples of a potential crisis.  If you really think about it, what turns these events into a crisis? 

A crisis arises from lack of clarity around who is going to do what next.   

F1 teams, and McLaren in particular, rely heavily on simulation software where they can test out every measurable variable and the outcome it could have on the race.  In fact the proprietary simulation software is a key differentiator since the time teams can spend on track physically testing the cars is very limited.  

This means that every potential "crisis" has already been thought through, simulated, and the response decided. When something actually goes wrong people know exactly what to do and more importantly who takes the lead on the decision. 

On any given race weekend the Pit crews will do over 100 practice pitstops. Multiply this by 20 races and thats over 2,000 practise sessions in a season.  How often do we practice our roles almost once an hour on average (~2,000 hour work year)

During the discussion with Alonso we asked whether there was allot of pressure when things went wrong during a race.  How was he able to make snap decisions while driving at over 300 KMPH.  His answer was pretty interesting.  

He said that the simulation software runs through over 3 million different scenarios before the race weekend using different variables specific to the driver, the car, the track, weather etc.  Before the day of the race the driver and the teams go through all the potential variable changes (crisis) that could happen and determine what the course of action will be.  During the race if the driver is tempted to react to a situation based on his "gut" instinct, he just needs to ask himself whether his "gut" instinct is more reliable than the 3 million scenarios the computer has already run through.  

3. Use the Data

Having an effective simulation means you need to have the right data to be able to quantify the impact of different variables.  This brings us to the last Top 3 take-away for me.  Not only is it about having the data, but it's about how you use the information you collect. 

Technology has made it easier to collect data.  This is evident in every aspect of our lives.  Today we can use our cell phones to track where we have been, how many steps we've taken, how many stairs we climbed, what our weight is and how much money we've spent. The list goes on and on.  One only has to look to the ubiquitous health bands that track your every move to see how easy it is to collect data these days. 

The McLaren team uses their own version of the Demings PDCA cycle to drive continuous improvement in the team.  What struck me was how well they are using data in every leg of the cycle to drive the continuous improvement engine.  In some organizations there is a stigma around both measuring and sharing data.  This is partially linked to how the data is used (or misused) at times.  A best practice I learnt from my small glimpse into McLaren was how well they use the data to take the emotion out of decision making. 

Rather than using the data to find faults in the decision making process focused towards an individual, the data is used to understand how the process can be improved.  The organization acknowledges that there are going to be times when the wrong decision is made.  The data captured is then used to review what it is within the process that can be improved to minimise the risk of an incorrect decision being made again. 

From a collection point of view it was impressive to see that almost every conceivable aspect of the race was measured and fed into the simulation.  The relevance of the simulation depends on how accurately the real world variables have been captured and their impact quantified. 

The McLaren team use the data captured from races to regularly reassess the projected improvements.  What this means is that over the period of the race season the team is constantly re-calibrating their aspirations (always upward) to reduce the variability in the targets.

What next

Getting exposed to an adrenaline fueled, high powered, invigorating event like a Formula 1 race is no doubt exciting, but the important thing is what you do with that energy.  

It's easy to think that success on a race day is determined by the drivers performance.  

But is it? 

As with success in any field, winning is the result of consistently working smart and always finding ways to do better.  I came into the two day event looking for answers.  Trying to find the secret formula or the magic bullet that F1 teams use to drive performance.  

So, did I get my elusive answer?

Surprisingly the answer is No.  I did not get the answer I was looking for.  

I'm walking away with a far more important lesson.  Understanding the importance of asking the right questions as I continue on my journey to do more, feel better and live longer.  

Thank you to the McLaren team (Damian you rock) and the GSK leadership for supporting a program like this.  

  

The South Asia GPS Team
Asanga, Ashish, Abhishek, Anant and Vetrivel