10.20am, Tuesday 6 July 2010

Whether you're a genuine sports fan, reluctant follower because everyone else in the office is interested, or card carrying member of the 'I hate sports' club there are valuable lessons for all businesses from sporting endeavours.  Whether a team sport or an individual pursuit the lessons are there if we are willing to take a closer look.  Sport is very much a metaphor for life.  You train hard (qualify in a profession or trade), need to work in with others (teamwork), adapt to and overcome adversity (stay resilient), keep score (set and achieve goals) and focus on a constantly moving playing field in terms of skills, players, money, and rules (the market). 

Currently, the biggest sporting event on the planet is nearing its end - the FIFA 2010 World Cup (maybe the Olympics are bigger, not too sure but they're pretty close).  Teams from around the world have been through a tough qualifying process to make it through to the pinnacle of football competition (OK, soccer for those of you in America).  They range from traditional powerhouses (eg. Italy, Brazil, France) to minnows (North Korea and New Zealand), perennial underachievers (eg. England and Holland) to first timers (eg. Slovenia).  So, what are the five top lessons we can take from the competition so far?

1. Don't get complacent, ever!  It doesn't matter how good you used to be, what matters is how you perform on the day.  Who would have picked Italy and France to exit at the group stage?  No one.  They failed through a combination of self-destruction and under-estimation of the opposition.

2. It's a TEAM sport stupid!  It's an old saying that a champion team will beat a team of champions every time, and we've seen it in the World Cup once again.  Teams that function well as a team, are a cohesive group that know its mission, work well together, have high morale and self-belief, and no egos will always outperform a 'cluster' of individual stars.

3. Select for the future, not the past.  Experience counts but when you're looking at a long campaign you need to blend that with identifying and nurturing the talent for the future.  Teams that have relied far too heavily on historical campaigners have struggled and failed to blend the right mix of experience and new talent.

4. Be careful if you're a one trick pony.  Teams that are very good at one thing to the detriment of others better be exceptionally good at it or else someone will come along with a game plan that nullifies it and takes you out of the game.

5. Persevere!  Goals are scored, and wins are made, even in the dying seconds of full time.  Discipline, diligence, self-belief and effort all count - especially when the opposition think they have the best of you and start to relax.  It's when you look beaten that you can actually be most dangerous, because the opposition aren't paying as much attention as usual.  Use that time effectively.