What we can learn from Sports Part II

The arguments made in the comments aside, let’s continue the analogy. How much can we learn from coaching a football (basketball, tennis, volleyball, etc.) team? How much can we follow good coaching principles in sports to make our businesses run better?


To recap:

• Leadership Team: Pick top level coaches based on how they fit the Head Coach’s system and find ones that will work as a team. Ones with expertise in getting the most out of the players.


• Recruiting: Don’t think of it as hiring or filling a position. You’re recruiting based on potential and fit. You’re actively seeking the best fit for your program. Stop hiring and start recruiting.


• Professional Development: Stop expecting ANYONE to stay around for extended periods of time. If you develop them well, they’ll move on to bigger and better things. Assistant coaches will become Head Coaches at other programs; players will become better paid players on other teams or assistant coaches themselves. And that’s a good thing.


• Providing Feedback: The coaches works with the players to assess their play and get better. It’s a never-ending (continuous improvement) cycle.
  

Measures

So, how best to assess? In sports, coaches use tons of measures. They have staff who observe, collect, document, store, and report measures (let’s use basketball). Field Goal %, Three-Point-Field-Goal %, Offensive Rebounds, Defensive Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Fouls, Turnovers, Assist-to-Turnover ratios. All of these can be measured against minutes played. Of course there’s also Points Scored, Points Allowed, Free Throws attempted, Shots attempted, etc. per minute, per period, and per game. There are lot’s more! Imagine if the coach followed businesses’ example on using measures?

LeBron, we’re going to have to reprimand you (not give you a raise) because your numbers are down. Worse, businesses don’t look at ALL the data (too much to collect, too expensive to collect) – instead, they’d measure the players on only one, two, or maybe three “key” measures. AAAUGH!

If you’re only going to judge the players on a subset of the available measures, at least make those measures the higher level ones – GAMES WON!

No, in sports, we not only look at all the measures, we also focus on the areas of expertise. So for the Point Guard we look at Assist-to-Turnover ratio. For the defensive specialist, Steals and Blocks. For our scoring threat – we’ll use measures around scoring efficiency. As a team we’ll look at offensive and defensive efficiency. We’ll even breakdown how well our in-bounds plays work. Our effectiveness in the half-court offense. How effective our defense is.

The players will NOT fear the measures – in fact, they’ll clamor for them. Of course we may have the same issues as some selfish ball players – our staff may want to pad their stats at the detriment of the team. But, those people stand out (to fans and coaches and fellow players) and their behavior can be adjusted or they can be let go.

Heroes and Super Heroes

Yes, sports teams at all levels, like businesses, have to deal with heroes. But in sports, especially team sports, we find that the best players actually make those around them better. They don’t horde information (like not calling out a switch or impending pick on a teammate), and they don’t obtain their self-worth by hoping their teammates don’t get better.

Quickly, even the best players, realize that they have to become coaches on the floor. They get the team Captain emblem and work as hard as the coaches to make the team better. Why? Because regardless of the accolades they get for being the best (scorer, shooter, passer, rebounder, etc.) it pales to being part of the reason the TEAM wins! Even the best players (LeBron included) learn that the real goal is to win as a team.

Ask Michael Jordan, arguably the best there ever was. If he didn’t have teammates who helped him to excel, and the team to win, he’d be an almost-was instead of a superstar. We need to find the “team goal” – the vision for the organization. We need to identify measures of success for the organization. We MUST know how to determine that the “team” has won. And we need to all celebrate (not just the heroes and definitely NOT just the Coaches). Look at who ends up holding the trophy the longest. Who hugs it? Who kisses it? Not the coach.

So, all of this post is based on the ability for businesses to identify team goals for the organization. We have to have a way of winning. We need a “prize” at the end – a trophy to compete for. That reminds me of the Air Force saying, “Officers compete.” We knew in the Air Force that competition was NOT a bad thing. Competition is a good, time-tested, American, incentive for behavior. Guaranteed, every business has a competitive element. Even NFPs compete (with other NFPs and with the things they are trying to overcome – poverty, disease, cruelty, etc.). Pick the business or organization and there is an element of competition. There are goals to achieve and battles to win.

It only requires a little creativity.

And a different viewpoint.

A coach’s viewpoint