2010 FIFA World Cup Lessons For Businesses

The 2010 FIFA World Cup produced some of the most unexpected, and at times controversial, results in World Cup history. We saw the previous world champions, Italy, leave the tournament in the first round without putting up any kind of performance. Disagreements in the French camp ended their cup dreams in disgrace. And who could forget the series of goals that should have been but were disallowed and those that did count but were clearly illegal. Tempers flared and tears were shed while some exceeded their own expectations. It all makes for very good television.

There are many lessons that can be learned from this year's tournament and businesses should capitalise on these. I would like to share just a few I recognised that could benefit you. Starting from the pitch, we will look at lessons we can learn from the players themselves, then the teams and finally what we can learn from the coaches.

The Players

This year we were spoilt with the number of great players from leagues all over the world who were eager to reach superstar status at the biggest sporting event on the calendar. Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney, Christiano Ronaldo and Fernando Torres were among these and yet very few of them got their chance to shine. Instead we saw newcomers such as Thomas Mueller making their mark.

The lessons:

1. A player's overall rating based on past performances does not necessarily mean that he will perform just as well in the next game. Great talent and skill definitely plays a big part but the player must be willing to work hard for his team and prove that he is as good as his stats indicate.

Similarly, an employee who performed exceptionally well in a previous project should put just as much effort, if not more into future projects to maintain that high standard.

2. Some talented strikers in this year's tournament found themselves being marked by two or more defenders. The really good strikers recognised this not as a threat to their performance, but rather as an opportunity that opened up spaces for other players to move forward. For example, many teams facing Argentina focused their defensive efforts on closing down Lionel Messi which gave Gonzalo Higuain opportunities to attack.

If key project members in your company find themselves facing obstacles, are they able to take an objective look at the situation and see hidden opportunities?

The Teams

Every team has its unique style of playing the beautiful game but some seemed to get things just right while others let themselves down. It wouldn't be possible to discuss each team but as the tournament was hosted in South Africa, let's have a look at their team, Bafana Bafana. Ranked 83rd on the FIFA World rankings they were not expected to go very far. Unfortunately they didn't but they managed to draw 1-1 with Mexico who are ranked 17th and beat France ranked 9th by 2-1. The match that caused their exit was the 3-0 defeat to Uruguay (ranked 16th). When Bafana Bafana played their opening match against Mexico they had a plan. Every player knew what his role was, where he was supposed to be and where his teammates were supposed to be. Their passing was excellent, their set plays clinical and their composure, although somewhat cautious, was steadfast.

While most pundits thought a defeat to Mexico was sure, South Africa almost secured a win. In their second match against Uruguay it all went wrong and it looked like a completely different team on the field. Some players, perhaps overconfident from the previous performance took chances that weren't necessary and made tactical decisions that baffled their team mates. Suddenly, no one was in the correct position as everyone tried frantically to make themselves available to movements that had not been planned. The pressure intensified after the first goal was conceded and led to more bad decisions in midfield. The collapse continued, resulting in a red card for the man between the sticks, Itumeleng Khune, and a further 2 goals. Bafana Bafana bounced back in their third game against France and played as they had over the three months prior to the World Cup. They scored two goals in the first half and only conceded one in the second. The final score 2-1.

The lesson:

The match outcome is dependent on the entire team. Each player needs to understand what is required of him and how he is affected by what his teammates do and how they are affected by the decisions he makes. If a player makes his own decisions that are not in line with the team strategy, he is going to put added pressure on his teammates which will lead to more mistakes.

When taking on a new project in your company, be sure to set out clear objectives and courses of action. Communicate these to every project team member. Help them to understand how their performance is affected by other team members and how they affect others. Be quick in identifying problems when they crop up and what everyone's role is in correcting them. Encourage openness and new ideas but set procedures in place to discuss these before they are implemented.

The Coaches

We saw some really great coaches this year and we saw those that let their emotions run away from them. Two cases in point were Dunga for Brazil and Diego Maradona for Argentina. Each coach was in charge of one of the two best teams in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Early in the knockout stage of the tournament it looked like it could be Brazil vs Argentina in the final but it was not to be. Brazil suffered a surprise defeat to the Netherlands and Argentina suffered their greatest World Cup defeat since 1952 at German hands or rather feet. Both coaches boasted at the depth of talent their side possessed. While they cannot be blamed entirely for their side losing, their actions definitely played a part.

A coach is there to give the team direction, assess the flow of the game, recognise the strategy of the opposing team and capitalise on any weaknesses they may have while working to minimise the threats to his own team. If he starts focussing all his attention and emotions on mistakes made by individual players or the officials, soon his entire team will do the same simply because they have nothing else to focus on. How often did we see these two coaches pacing up and down the touchline, arms flailing in a desperate attempt to get the officials to change a decision they had already made.

The lesson:

Passion can be a powerful driving force to achieving a positive outcome but can be just as dangerous if it becomes focused on issues that are beyond the team's control. When situations within a match begin to negatively affect the performance of the team, such as an official's decision regarding player discipline or the poor result being achieved by a certain tactic, then it's time for the coach to change the strategy.

The same goes for your project managers. If a project starts falling behind schedule, or unexpected changes creep in from the client, or one of your key project members falls ill, whatever the situation, your project managers need to recognise that the original project plan, no matter how good it was or how many times it worked in the past, needs to be changed. These changes often need to be made on the spot and therefore require someone who can calmly assess the situation, even if he/she might be under a great deal of pressure, and make decisions that will help the project team achieve a positive outcome.

There are many more lessons that this World Cup can give but I hope these few will help you.

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