Ep 31 - Speed, Strategy, and Staying Unblocked: Leadership Lessons from Pro Motorsports & Beyond

What can business leaders learn from the high-stakes world of professional motorsports?

Find out, in this conversation between Thinkydoers host Sara Lobkovich (whose "other life" is in professional motorcycle road racing) and organizational change expert Jurriaan Kamer, co-author of "Formula X: How to Reach Extreme Acceleration in Your Organization" and his new release, "Unblock: Clear the Way for Results and Develop a Thriving Organization."

We cover a lot of ground here -- from how pro racing teams approaches to goal clarity, mistake recovery, and rhythmic learning can transform your leadership practice, to creating blame-free cultures, and mastering the art of strategic alignment.

In this lively and engaging conversation, you'll discover how racing's high-performance, high-stakes principles can accelerate your business performance—whether you're a motorsports fan or not.

Episode Highlights:

• Three core principles business can learn from racing teams:
  • Crystal-clear goals and their role in driving focus
  • Balanced autonomy and alignment in high-performing teams
  • Rhythmic learning: how racing teams turn every moment into an opportunity for improvement
• Creating blame-free cultures in high-stakes environments
• The power of "even over" statements in explicit prioritization
• Decision-making frameworks: understanding "hats, haircuts, and tattoos"
• How consent and choice drive organizational ownership

Notable Quotes:

"Failure avoidance is more dangerous than failure recovery." - Jurriaan Kamer

"If you look at Formula 1 teams [...] execution is not 99% of the thing. They understand that everything they do is an opportunity to reflect and improve. These meetings, these rituals, are built into their cadence. It's not something somebody has to plan - it's just part of how they operate." - Jurriaan Kamer

"If you try to convince a group of people, the first thing you need to do is not tell them why you think you're right, but ask them what they think is going to go wrong. And then you can start to build conviction together." - Jurriaan Kamer

"We have to take a systemic perspective when things go wrong... As an outsider, you think 'Oh, this person needs to be fired, because they blew the chances of a victory.' Which is just very short-term focused because [mistakes] will repeat [themselves] if you don't understand all the factors that were at play." - Jurriaan Kamer

Guest Information: 

Jurriaan Kamer is an organizational change expert based in the Netherlands and author of "Formula X: How to Reach Extreme Acceleration in Your Organization" and "Unblock." Drawing from his unique access to professional car-racing teams and extensive experience with self-managing organizations, he helps leaders worldwide create high-performing, adaptable organizations.

Jurriaan's Resources Mentioned:

• Formula X: How to Reach Extreme Acceleration in Your Organization (Book by Rini van Solingen and Jurriaan Kamer)
• Unblock: Clear the Way for Results and Develop a Thriving Organization (Book by Jurriaan Kamer)
• Website: jurriaankamer.com
• Unblock book website: unblockbook.net

Sara's Links and Resources:

• Join this Fall's Goal Fridays free live series: https://findrc.co/goalfridays
• Join Sara's Email Newsletter: https://findrc.co/newsletter
• Email Sara at [email protected]
• Other Free No-BS OKRs Resources: Access all free resources
• Thinkydoers (not-just-an OKR podcast) Home Page: https://saralobkovich.com/thinkydoers-pod
• Follow CW Moto Racing on Instagram: https://instagram.com/cw_moto

Find full show notes and the episode transcript via https://findrc.co/thinkydoers !