Soccer Thinking for Management Success: Lessons for organizations from the world's game - Brossura

Loge, Peter

Brossura

ISBN 10: 1785357549 ISBN 13: 9781785357541

Casa editrice: Changemakers Books, 2018

Riassunto

The modern world is networked and always working. Organizations no longer have the luxury of time. Expertise is no longer confined to a couple of smart guys in corner offices, reviewing information to which only they have access and issuing instructions through layers of middle-men to nine-to-fivers who carry out the dictates and feed paper back up the chain, awaiting the next set of instructions. Today’s successful organization is decentralized and never stops moving. In fact, organizational success is a lot like soccer. Every player is both a specialist and generalist. Responsibility on the field is distributed, and everyone on the team works for everyone else. Communication among players is constant. Soccer is 90 minutes of systems thinking in action. Soccer Thinking for Management Success is by a soccer fan and player who has spent a career building and running teams and organizations. He draws on insights from leaders, known and not-so-well-known who use soccer thinking to succeed. This is not just another book on how to be a great leader by a famous person. This is a management and leadership book by, and for, the rest of us.

Su questo libro

Informazioni sugli autori

A respected strategic consultant, over the past two decades Peter Loge has worked with everyone from "America's Funniest Home Videos" and the American Farmland Trust, to WickedCoolStuff.com and the World Wildlife Fund. He holds degrees from Emerson College, Syracuse University, and Arizona State University, and is an Associate Fellow of Timothy Dwight College at Yale University. www.peterloge.com

A respected strategic consultant, over the past two decades Peter Loge has worked with everyone from "America's Funniest Home Videos" and the American Farmland Trust, to WickedCoolStuff.com and the World Wildlife Fund. He holds degrees from Emerson College, Syracuse University, and Arizona State University, and is an Associate Fellow of Timothy Dwight College at Yale University. www.peterloge.com

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Soccer Thinking for Management Success

By Peter Loge

John Hunt Publishing Ltd.

Copyright © 2017 Peter Loge
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-78535-754-1

Contents

Acknowledgements, 
Foreword, 
Introduction, 
Chapter 1: It Takes a Team, 
Chapter 2: Total Football, 
Chapter 3: Know the System, Play Your Role, 
Chapter 4: Soccer Fields Are Loud, 
Chapter 5: Know when to Run, When to Walk and When to Rest, 
Chapter 6: Where the Ball Isn't, 
Chapter 7: An Organization is a Team, Not a Family, 
Chapter 8: Manage Your Strengths and Weaknesses, 
Chapter 9: Respect, Competition, Cooperation, 
Chapter 10: Goals, 
Chapter 11: The Limits of Under-Dogdem and Over-Dogdem, 
Chapter 12: Failure and Fame Are Fleeting, 
Chapter 13: Don't Just Do Something, Sit There, 
Chapter 14: Get Fit along the Way, 
Chapter 15: Referees Keep the Game Going, 
Chapter 16: Advice for Managers, 
Chapter 17: Advice for Staff, 
Chapter 18: Added Time, 
List of Interviews, 
References, 
Further Reading, 

CHAPTER 1

It Takes a Team

A soccer team is a system made up of 11 parts that interact to ensure the success of the whole. Modern organizations are also systems made up of staff and managers working together for a shared goal.

Always play for your team, never for yourself or for the amusement of the spectators. Hubert Vogelsinger, How to Star in Soccer

Venture capital firms invest in teams, so you need to be a team worth investing in. Danny Karbassiyoon, Co-Founder and Product Lead, SWOL/Fury90, former Arsenal player

A team is a system in which each part works with, and for, the other parts.

Successful soccer teams are not collections of superstars who do not pass the ball or players who show flashes of brilliance but who are otherwise unreliable. Successful soccer teams are groups in which skilled players are in their best positions and who work together as a single unit toward a shared goal. In 2016 a team in England called Leicester City – which barely survived being demoted to a lower division at the end of the 2014/2015 season – beat 5,000 to one odds to finish as the best team in England. When Leicester's star was playing semi-professional soccer a few years before winning it all, second-place Arsenal players were winning the World Cup. In the same season the talent-stacked Chelsea, defending Premier League champion with a payroll of roughly $310 million, finished 10th, not much better than Bournemouth – a team that had a payroll of roughly $38 million and which spent much of its 70-year history in the third division of English soccer. Leicester and Bournemouth (and Arsenal) did well in part because they were teams, not just collections of expensive stars. They moved as a unit, worked for each other, and were fully committed to the system and goal. Chelsea did poorly in part because the team's stars did not work together, for each other, or for their manager, Jose Mourinho. Before he was fired midseason, Mourinho (who calls himself "the special one") publicly criticized his players for betraying him. One of his players – on international television – threw a shirt at Mourhino; the shirt fell just short of its target, summing up the team's season.

... teamwork is the most striking thing about the side, and has enabled them to possess that most valuable commodity in the Championship [England's second division] – winning while playing badly.– ESPN FC on Brighton, which had just won promotion to the top division in England from the second-tier Championship division

My local team, DC United, has historically had among the lowest payrolls in Major League Soccer. Unlike virtually every other team in the league, as of 2017 DC United has had no stars from the top leagues in Europe and it has been a while since DC United players were regular starters for the US Men's National Team. For at least a decade it has been a collection of hardworking and solid players from around MLS and some young talent coming up through the system. Yet the team regularly advances in the playoffs, spends time at or near the top of the league standings, and Ben Olsen was Coach of the Year in 2014. In the second decade of the 21st century DC United was usually known for being hard-working, not having a lot of flash, and being hard to beat.

The best way to win is to play football where everybody expresses his talent. What is marvelous in this game ... nobody has all the qualities, but in a team sport what is very interesting is to develop the strong qualities of each player and to put a harmony [on top] and put that to work together and then be efficient as a unit. What is marvelous in the game is 1+1+1 is more than 11. When you manage to do that, you have built a team. That will be a team with style because everybody expresses his qualities. And that will be a team that is efficient because everybody brings his best to the unit. Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger, Arseblog

The same principal of teamwork beating freelancing stars at the very top level is also true of casual weekend pickup games and local rec league play. Everyone wants to be on a team that wins, but no one wants a teammate who won't pass the ball or defend. People want to play on teams that behave like teams – teams that ensure everyone is involved in the play, teams on which everyone works as hard on defense as they do at scoring, teams that recognize everyone has to take a turn playing goalkeeper if need be. If stars do not involve other players, other players stop involving the stars. The predicable result is that the team loses.

There are occasions when you have to ask yourself whether certain players are affecting the dressing-room atmosphere, the performance of the team, and your control of the players and staff. If they are, you have to cut the cord. There is absolutely no other way. It doesn't matter if the person is the best player in the world. The long-term view of the club is more important than any individual ...

Sir Alex Ferguson, former head coach of Manchester United, "Ferguson's Forumula"

The best organizational teams, like the best soccer teams, are made up of people who work with and for each other. A former senior leader at an international health system explains the importance of teams in operating rooms and hospitals in general: To ensure the safety of the patient, everyone in the operating room needs to know what they are supposed to do and do it well – and they also have to know what everyone else is doing and why so they can adjust as necessary. This is true beyond the operating room and extends to the entire hospital – in one of the places in which she worked the CEO knew everyone's name and their contribution to the organization's success, from senior administrator to maintenance staff. One result was that the organization ran as a team with everyone working together. She contrasted this to a hospital she was sent to help improve in which "if the CEO knew a dozen people's names I'd be surprised." The CEO not only didn't know the names and roles of those on whom the hospital's success relied, he never even saw many of them – he took a private elevator from the garage to his office. In this system there were groups of individuals working individually, but they were not working together as a team. As a result the hospital was not doing well, and was never going to get better.

We have all worked at companies that put up with the staff member who is typically a slouch (at best) but who shows flashes of brilliance. We know about (or have worked for) the prima donna who thinks the success of the company is all because of him but failure is the fault of the staff. And we have all been in meetings where a few people try to prove they are the smartest in the room and as a result ensure that other voices are not heard and the best ideas may not be pursued. No one wants to work with those people, to support their efforts, or even be in the same room with them. These staff members may have great moments or have occasional magical insight, but the toll they take on the organization means the occasional victories are outweighed by the missed opportunities and overall underperformance caused by a team not consistently working together. The amount of time and effort it takes to put up with these solo artists, and the numbers of colleagues who simply will not work with these non-team players, detracts from success more than it adds. Flashy and self-promoting colleagues may get attention, but too often they do not get organizational results.

Management literature is full of studies proving this point. Famous or flashy CEOs do not do as well as their less famous counterparts, and their counterparts typically cost a lot less. Collections of leaders with big egos tend to devolve into arguments among themselves, or worse engage in individual efforts that intentionally avoid coordination and undermine the work of others and the goals of the team. The best companies are like the best soccer teams – good people who become great when working together. The work may not be flashy and might not result in gushing profiles in business magazines, but the work is very, very good.

You want to build a culture in which everyone fights for each other. Danny Karbassiyoon, Co-Founder and Product Lead SWOL/Fury90, former Arsenal player

The best companies, like the best teams, are not made up of the best individual performers. The best companies, like the best teams, are made up of the most effective teammates, each of whom is good at his or her role and is also good at supporting others in their roles.

One challenge is that companies with stars, egos, and poor teamwork often do well. It is not as if stars with egos are bad at what they do – the ego is often justified. As a result companies at which they work (and teams on which they play) often do well. They just do not do as well as others or as well as they could. DC United's hardworking band of underpaid players no one has heard of won games, but they have not won the championship with this group. Leicester City had its moment but it has since fallen back to earth and Chelsea is back on top (with a new coach). In addition, firms or companies that rely on stars may not be able to survive the departure of that star. The focus on the star may have prevented a strong organization able to survive the person from developing, or the personality overwhelms the organization entirely. Either way, it is bad news for the organization. The best leaders embrace the admonition often attributed to Charles de Gaulle that "the graveyards are full of indispensable men."

Locker Room Notes for Managers

Do not hire or tolerate selfish staff. Seek out and reward good team players. Take the time to look behind self-promotional efforts, and look for the work of those who do not draw attention to themselves.

Remind your staff that you measure success against the shared goal of the organization and against the unit's own goals – you do not reward attention-getting or bragging by individuals, you reward measurable results of the team. Then reward them as such.

Focus on the team to avoid falling into "the special one" trap. By putting individual goals in the context of advancing team goals and providing feedback on performance of a staff member's behavior in the context of team goals and impact on other members of the team, managers can help improve team performance. By focusing on team goals and team results in meetings, managers reinforce the value of group results (rather than individual performances). One way to ensure you do this, and that everyone hears you doing it, is to start with the goal and team before talking about an individual – the difference between "increasing staff retention is a team goal this year, one way we're doing that is informal mentorship of junior staff, Denise has done a great job of working with two new hires" and "Denise is doing a great job by taking two new hires under her wing" can be massive. The former is about the team in which an individual is playing a part; the latter is only about the individual.

Locker Room Notes for Staff

Be a team player. Ensure you are doing as well as you can at the role you are assigned, know and understand others' roles and find ways to help support others in their assigned roles.

Put your work in the context of advancing unit and organizational goals when talking about your work with your supervisor; talk about the progress of the team toward the goal and the role you played on the team rather than talking about your individual successes. If we have learned anything from post-game press conferences it is that one should thank one's team and talk about the importance of a team's success rather than individual success. In meetings, publicly call out colleagues who contribute to the team by leading with a team goal: "As a team, we committed to mentoring new staff and increasing retention. Denise is helping the team do this ..."

CHAPTER 2

Total Football

Modern soccer teams move as a unit. Players have specialties, but everyone is expected to do everything as needed. Modern organizations are the same. Staff are hired for their specific skills, but must be willing and able to fill other roles as well.

The new tiki-taka style created constantly changing strategies and passing combinations, making movements difficult to predict. Defenders find it difficult to cover players, their constant passing ... Players interact by passing, using each pass to communicate intuitively with a teammate, the "we" superseding the "me." Tiki-takastyle swarm intelligence has thus become the offense's answer to the complexity of modern defenses.

Wolfgang Jenewein, Thomas Kochanek, Marcus Heidbrink and Christian Schimmelpfennig, "Learning Collaboration from Tiki-Taka Soccer"

One of the beauties of the Dutch "Total Football" philosophy was that players weren't limited to thinking, "My job is to be the best defender or the best mid-fielder." Instead, they were focused on moving the ball forward collectively, creating scoring chances, and ultimately winning the game.

Likewise, when you encourage members of your organization to stop thinking solely in the bounds of their departments and individual roles (ex: my job is to provide x amount of leads, or produce x lines of code), then you open up more opportunities for them to contribute to moving the needle, sometimes in ways you may not even anticipate. Jonathan Crowe, "Agile Lessons from the Most Innovative Team in World Cup History"

Successful organizations, like successful soccer teams, are systems in which everyone has a specific role and in which everyone sometimes fills the roles of others. Everyone works for and with everyone else. The single-skill specialist who only does one thing is increasingly obsolete, while those with the most value are those who excel at one thing and who can do a variety of other tasks well. Everyone is an autonomous decision maker, using his or her best judgment about what is needed to advance the goal. Because systems are complex and no one can see or process all of the parts of it at once, everyone in the system has to constantly share information and process information shared by others. The authors whose quotes open this chapter compare contemporary soccer to the "hive mind" approach to problem solving.

The legendary Dutch teams of the 1970s led by Johann Cruyff developed a style of play called Total Football. It required players to go beyond their traditional roles as forwards who only attacked and defenders who only defended. Under this new system, players had to do a bit of everything. Everyone moved forward together and everyone moved back together. When the play was on the left side of the field, the whole unit shifted left. When the play shifted right, so did the players. This system often relied on players using lots of short passes, called tika-taka after the sound the ball makes when it is being passed quickly.

In my teams, striker is first defender and goalie is the first attacker. Johan Cruyff, legendary player and manager, "A tribute to Johan Cruyff, the Dutch soccer maestro"

An example of total commitment to a team rather just to an assigned role is US National Team player Carli Lloyd's performance in the final of the 2015 Women's World Cup against Japan. Lloyd, a forward, put three goals past Japan in a span of 16 minutes, essentially deciding the game before halftime. And still, in the final minutes of a game the US was leading 5-2, Lloyd ran all the way back on defense to help out her teammates. Lloyd was on the field to score goals, which she did. She was also there to help in the midfield and on defense as part of a system that required all of the players to always be aware and able to go where they were needed most. Her actions as a specialist in attack and supporter on defense did more than score goals and prevent Japan from scoring. Her actions set and reflected the approach of the entire team.

For the system to work everyone must be good at their primary task and also be able to do the jobs of others on the field. The successful system further requires that everyone on the field be aware of where their teammates and opponents are, constantly look for threats and opportunities, and communicate problems and solutions while simultaneously moving to take advantage of those opportunities (or help their teammates to take advantage of them) and counter the threats (or help their teammates counter them).

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Soccer Thinking for Management Success by Peter Loge. Copyright © 2017 Peter Loge. Excerpted by permission of John Hunt Publishing Ltd..
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Dettagli dell'edizione

• Editore: Changemakers Books
• Data di pubblicazione: 2018
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 1785357549
• ISBN 13: 9781785357541
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 173
• Contatto del produttore: non disponibile
• Persona responsabile: non disponibile