Leadership and The One Degree Shift

Have you heard of the one degree shift ?

During my sailing career, I have travelled to various ports across the world

Now before you begin a voyage, you need to do voyage planning

You have to plot the “course” – the direction to take from point A to point B

Very similar to finding the route on a Google map

This “course” is expressed as an angle on a 360 degrees scale

For example, to go North, the course is set at 000 degrees

To go East, it is set at 090 degrees 

To go South, it is set at 180 degrees and so on

This course is then plotted on a navigation chart and then the ship is navigated along this course

Let’s say you need to go in a North-East direction, which is an initial course of 045 degrees

But instead of 045, you erroneously set it as 046 degrees

Just one degree difference…

You know the impact ?

This one degree course error translates into approx. one nautical mile off-track for every 60 nautical miles travelled

This is also known as 1 in 60 rule

This is based on the mathematical principle of small angle approximation, but we will not get into math now

And the longer you travel off-course, the further away you will be from your intended destination

Infact, if you travel around the globe along the equator, a one degree course difference will set you off target by almost 500 miles !!

That’s the impact of one degree over a period of time

While I am not sailing now, but as a coach, I look for these “one degree” shifts for my clients

A small shift in perspective, a new insight that can create a massive impact in the way they show up for their teams & their business

Sometimes, you don’t need a ton of knowledge or information to move ahead

What you need is a…

A small action..

A new habit..

A new thought, when accumulated over a period of time can make a huge difference 

Alan kay, one of the early visionaries of computer science once said “A change in perspective is worth 80 IQ points”

What you need is a one degree shift !

Over to you now

Here’s a question for you to reflect upon

What is that one single insight or shift in perspective you have had in recent times, which has made a huge difference in your life ?

PS : Whenever you are ready to push yourself outside your comfort zone and create new possibilities in life, 

you can book a short exploratory call here ( Book Your Call )