I'm reading "Inverting the Pyramid" by Jonathan Wilson (http://www.amazon.com/Inverting-The-Pyramid-History-Tactics/dp/1568587384). It is about football (soccer) tactics over time. I like reading it at the same time as I am teaching about different theories on management in governments.
One of the most common comments I get about management in developing countries is, "we just need good people...with good people we can do many things...with not so good people we can't do anything."
It is like saying that football teams are only as good as the players on the teams. Wilson starts the book by recollecting an argument with a sports writer who made exactly this point. Wilson disagreed, and writes: "Football is not about players, or at least not just about players; it is about shape and about space, about the intelligent deployment of players, and their movement within their deployment."
I like this. It is something that scholars of organizations constantly think about; how are people organized, motivated, deployed, etc. This matters at least as much as who one has in your organization.
Wilsn writes further that, "Football...is not played on the blackboard. However sound the system, success on the pitch requires compromise betweeen...the theory and the players available." Nice.
What works better for your team (and players) given your context (opposition, field type, heat, etc.)?
This is a very interesting observation. Some team sports can be remarkably fluid - "association football" being one of the more fluid in terms of positional play. It's interesting that many coaches or managers in soccer, hockey (ice variety) and basketball often have "systems" or best practices that attains some level of success for a period of time. (Mike Keenan in hockey is a classic example). The consistent winners tend to adapt to the team that they have (skills, capacity) and the team that they are playing - a skill much more difficult in a fluid sport rather than a more organized structure like baseball.
Posted by: Dalytics | 12/19/2014 at 12:47 PM