“There is a thing that sometimes happens in rowing that is hard to achieve and hard to define. Many crews, even winning crews, never really find it. Others find it but can’t sustain it. It’s called ‘swing.’ It only happens when all eight oarsmen are rowing in such perfect unison that no single action by any one is out of synch with those of all the others….But the closer a crew can come to that ideal — maintaining a good swing while rowing at a high rate — the closer they are to rowing on another plane, the plane on which champions row.”
—Daniel James Brown, The Boys in the Boat
This year my word is "swing". I was reminded of it when we went to see the movie, The Boys In the Boat, on Christmas day. I keep finding quotes that go well with it. It is about unity, mercy, kindness and understanding other people.
The movie is about a rowing team from the University of Washington in the1930s. I read the book years ago and about 'swing', it says:
There is a thing that sometimes happens that is hard to achieve and hard to define. It’s called “swing.” It happens only when all are rowing in such perfect unison that not a single action is out of sync.
Rowers must rein in their fierce independence and at the same time hold true to their individual capabilities. Races are not won by clones. Good crews are good blends—someone to lead the charge, someone to hold something in reserve, someone to fight the fight, someone to make peace. No rower is more valuable than another, all are assets to the boat, but if they are to row well together, each must adjust to the needs and capabilities of the others—the shorter-armed person reaching a little farther, the longer-armed person pulling in just a bit.
Differences can be turned to advantage instead of disadvantage. Only then will it feel as if the boat is moving on its own. Only then does pain entirely give way to exultation. Good “swing” feels like poetry.
As John Coleman explains in the Harvard Business Review, programs like One Network, One Book have significant benefits for large organizations: “The act of reading in community can help you read more deeply and better understand diverse perspectives.” At the same time, Coleman notes, the book discussions themselves empower employees to “build and reinforce relationships” that they otherwise might not form. Simply put, book clubs make an organization stronger.
Here’s what I’ve seen “swing” look like in the highest-performing schools.
First, there’s a sense of unison. Teachers, students, parents, and administrators all share an understanding of what the school is about: what it values, how it plans to meet its goals, the strategies it uses to understand what works well in the building and what doesn’t. In these schools everything—whether instructional time or professional development or PTA fundraising—is organized to support specific, agreed-upon goals for teaching and learning.
Second, there’s a strong social fabric of trust. Everyone has total confidence that the others are pulling their weight. Everyone knows that if something goes wrong, they can count on the others to help fix it. At my sons’ elementary school, I knew that no matter what, my kids would be valued and smart people would find solutions to any challenges.
Third, there’s joy. No amount of strategic planning or performance evaluation or project-based curricula can succeed in a school where kids don’t feel good about themselves, their class, or schoolmates, where their teachers just punch a timesheet rather than inspire in their students a hunger for intellectualism and learning, where parents feel disconnected or unwelcome. I’ve been in both joyful schools and joyless schools; the difference is immediately apparent.
https://heartheboatsing.com/2018/03/08/pulling-against-the-stream-historic-images-of-womens-rowing/
Swing means taking one for the team like Jolien Boumkwo, a Belgian shotputter who ran the hurdles so that her team wouldn't get disqualified at the European Championships in Poland (June 2023). The athletes who normally run the hurdles had been injured so she did it to keep her team in the tournament.
