Are You Leading a Losing Team?

Posted on April 17, 2008
Filed Under leadership

Back to the last topic - how to see and deal with the “friendly” barriers in your organization. It may be that you do not like the military approach to breaking down silos. It does have a rather harsh sound!

Maybe sports is more your “arena”. If you have watched sports for any length of time, you’ve noticed that there are serious differences in the way to the games are played.

Imagine with me for just a second, that you’re watching a college football game.

Both teams are lined up on either side of the ball and as the ball is snapped from the center to the quarterback, each player on the team executes their play. They each know that they have a route to run and they are not really focused on what their other team members are doing. They’re simply running their assignment. If they are effective as a team then each player has carried out their individual responsibilities.

Now imagine a baseball game. The player comes up to home plate and waits for the pitch. He swings and hits the ball and runs to first base as the ball goes into the outfield. There it is caught and thrown back to the second baseman who catches it and ends the play.

On to basketball. As you watch the team play each player is constantly looking at the others trying to anticipate what will happen next. They are all adjusting their actions and activities based on the actions and activities of those around them. It is constant thought, adjustment, and execution.

In these three sports you have seen different levels of interdependence. Baseball is the least interdependent. It is sequential in nature. Each person does their part so the next person can do their part. Football is concurrent. Each player executes their assigned the task at the same time. They all are counting on one another to do what is supposed to be done. In basketball there is the highest level of interdependence. Each player is constantly adjusting to what the others are doing and together they are able to execute the game plan.

Effective organizations need to resemble a basketball team. There must be a high level of communication, anticipation, and execution based upon the real time events that surround the team. It is no longer sufficient for employees or managers to simply want to put their heads down and get their job done. If they cannot communicate, collaborate, and execute in real-time, they will not win the game.