Silverstone Grand Prix - following the herd
I had the pleasure of being a guest at the British Grand Prix this weekend. The event is huge and over 480,000 people passed through the gates over the weekend. On race day, I was one of 160,000 spectators watching the pinnacle of motorsport at the best race circuit in the world (I'm biased)
And it was very well organised! (well, almost).
The signage was easy, the app worked on the day, the entertainment was constant. A particular highlight for me was the Red Arrows. What these pilots do at 400mph within metres of each other is just astounding.
Their finale, a perfectly timed flyover with the National Anthem (an alternative arrangement from Mr Damian Lewis. Interesting, different and definitely memorable)
To the race. Experiencing the race and the power, speed and energy of these cars is visceral. On TV you don't quite appreciate the speed of them, the noises or the smells of hot exhaust and fast machinery, it really is quite a spectacle. Max Verstappen piloted his Red Bull to victory and was joined on the podium by two Brits. The opening laps of the Grand Prix and the atmosphere as Lando Norris overtook Max and kept the lead for a while is almost physical.
During Grand Prix weekend, Silverstone becomes this small city. Food and drink areas. Entertainment areas and special privilege VIP areas. It is HUGE and you can be entertained from 6:30am when the gates open to 10pm when the curfew is. I am glad I wore very comfortable shoes!
The planning and logistics are a marvel. There are challenges, of course, and if everything goes as planned, it works well. However, these plans are on the knife edge of capacity and it only takes a small issue as the 10's of thousands of people leave to cause delays and disruption. Something did happened and the emergency services closed roads to deal with the issue.
Back in the car parks, no-one was going anywhere and here, I witnessed an amazing example of herd mentality.
Where we parked, the car park has two exits. When we first attempted to exit, both were blocked. Slow traffic is the norm after a Grand Prix, but stationery was not. After. while, wisdom prevailed and we went to go and get a coffee, enjoy the music some more and wait it out. As we made our way back to the car, rather than go back and hope that our queue was moving, we stopped and checked the different ways of getting out. We also asked the stewards questions - they, being in communication with all the other stewards, could answer our questions quickly and advise a much better quicker alternative. a final chat with the gate guards confirmed our escape plan.
We returned to the car, our original queue was still queueing. And the herd mentality really showed itself. The other exit was clear. There were no cars queueing or any cars on the road that led to the exit. Yet, as we walked back to our transport, more and more cars were blindly joining the stationery queue to get out.
We drove the opposite direction, reached the gate, turned into an empty road and very carefully followed it to an exit that had no traffic, hold ups or accident. Thirty minutes later , I was delivered to my front door.
All because we took the time to investigate why the queue was there and 'what if' for the other exit.
I wonder how many of us in business, blindly follow the herd? How many times have we unwittingly been caught in a metaphorical traffic jam because we just followed everyone else. Maybe, we were desperate to make progress and just the path that existed but was slow with many people on the same path.
The most poignant time for our own escape plan was the decision to stop, step away and figure out the alternative.
That is the lesson. Stop, look around and regain your vantage point.