Midnight Oil Writing

As any fan of Discovery’s Deadliest Catch knows, the guys’ job is to go out, catch crab, and come back with everyone in one piece.  It’s a simple proposition.

But, as Captain Keith Colburn commented on a recent episode, “Catching crab is not an ‘option’.”

What he means is if they want to make money, they need to catch crab.  Regardless of weather, boat troubles, crew issues, or anything else.  They have no choice but to do the job.

How many businesses would transition from mediocre to successful if management viewed the task at hand — whether it is selling software, creating new product, acquiring new customers — as anything other than an ‘option’?

It’s sad to say, but many businesses are OK with excuses.  ”Sorry I didn’t make my numbers this quarter.”  ”No, I didn’t get to that.”  ”I was on vacation, so didn’t know about it.”

Common thinking may be that to be that focused, that driven, one needs to be difficult to work for.  Someone most people wouldn’t want to work for, or even with.

But if you look at the crews of the Deadliest Catch, most (most, not all), are OK working for someone they consider to be, well, a jerk.

Why?  Because they always come home with crab.

– Kelley

@kelleylynnk

OK, this past weekend I geeked out a bit on the Deadliest Catch Marathon in advance of this week’s debut of season 7.

During the “Deadliest Catch: Best of Season 6,” Captain Sig Hansen ended up “fishing with friends.”  And that presented a challenge to his end goal:  filling his tank with crab.

Avid fans of Deadliest Catch may know the details, but for those who don’t, here’s a quick overview.  Depending on the time of year and species of crab they are hunting, there are approximately 80 boats in the Bering Sea crab fleet.  The captains of those boats can choose where to fish; they do so based on current surveys from Alaska’s department of Fish & Game, previous experience and intuition.

It’s not easy to suss out where the crab is.

From the show it appears that Captain Sig likes to fish alone.  It makes sense: when you are the only boat fishing a particular spot, all the crab there are yours to catch.  When you’re fishing with friends, there are more boats and more pots going after the same amount of crab.

In this case, it meant fewer crabs in Sig’s pots.  Fewer crabs per pot equals more pots, more time and more effort to fill the tank, get to port and cash-in on the catch.

What does this mean for business strategy?  I think the Groupons of the world – all the daily deal startups and new entrants – have positioned themselves to be fishing with friends.  Sure, Groupon’s valuation is soaring.  They made, own and dominate that market.  Yet it seems every week we hear of new companies racing to be “the next Groupon.” The New York Times wrote an article on the “fleet of start-ups” chasing this market.

I think these Groupon clones should take a lesson from Captain Sig: it’s better to fish alone than to fish with friends.

– Kelley
@kelleylynnk