After Wrong: Cry, Learn, Trust, And Commit

Few things are more interesting than a team operating under high pressure with high stakes pushing to succeed. It took a friend of mine positioning Formula 1: Drive to Survive (on Netflix) this way to me, but man do I love this show now.

Me: So, it’s adult Mario Kart without the turtle shells and banana peels?

Friend: Oh no, there are turtle shells and banana peels, but in the form of multi-million dollar contracts, 50+ person teams with singular drivers and managers and owners (and their egos), and all the drama of a weekly race to see who can finish the fastest.

Me: Ok – I guess I’m going to learn about a new sport.

I’ve only watched Season 3, but from the wins, to the failures, to the interpersonal breakdowns and buildups, the full range of team dynamics are on display here. If you’re interested in management, leadership, organizational psychology, etc., you want to watch this show. Netflix did a great job here balancing the scene and the behind-the-scenes.

One (of many) notes I made was the following speech by Carlos Sainz Cenamor when talking about his son (Carlos Sainz Jr.) and what it means to be a professional racer. You can madlib out a few words and insert this into any professional’s credo:

When things go wrong, first you need to be honest with yourself. Learn from the bad things, and if you need to cry, you cry. But learn, make the mistakes, trust in your talent, trust in your ideas, trust the way you want to do things. You suddenly start to think in a different way on a few things, and then you are changing your approach. You change as a person, you know, and then suddenly you make a step in your career. You must try to analyze and then turn the page, fully committed, fully concentrated in the next race. I think it’s the right approach.

If you appreciate the drama of sport, even if you know nothing of racing (like me), check this show out.