In the unlikely sweltering heat of the London summer, Fidelio coolly contemplates the simple clarity of sporting achievement – Andy Murray’s much heralded victory at Wimbledon, the success of the British and Irish Lions in Australia and Chris Froome’s impressive triumph in the Tour de France. Not to mention England’s commanding opening to the Ashes series.
To crown this, as the anniversary of London 2012 Olympics approaches, the UK government has also published a report ‘London 2012 – Delivering the Economic Legacy’ claiming that £9.9bn in trade and investment had flowed from Britain’s hosting of the Olympics, exceeding what the FT estimates to be the £8.7bn cost to the public purse.
The UK economy finally seems to be on the mend, but emergence from the muddle, mess and confusion sown by the Financial Crisis remains painful and slow. Fidelio explores how to pick up the pace.
Winning at the highest level is complex. This is true for economic, corporate or sporting performance. Success seems beguilingly simple. But as with the iPad, the simplicity of the product belies the meticulous and relentless design and innovation which are integral to Apple’s success.
Fidelio respects the complexity that corporates face. Our recent report “From Communications Director to Chief Trust Officer – it’s all about Corporate Reputation” highlights the radical realignment of the stakeholder universe for many of our leading corporates. The empowerment of consumers and employees via social media, the “tsunami” of regulation, profound demographic and geographic changes in the business model, as well as in sources of capital, demand a sophisticated response.
Equally Fidelio lays great value on alignment. Consider the hiring of a senior executive. An organisation will clearly be much more successful in identifying, sourcing and retaining the best candidate for the role if the members of the hiring committee are aligned as to what the role will deliver and therefore what type of individual is needed.
But it takes more than consensus, caution and alignment to achieve at the highest level. Robert Rowland Smith, author and management consultant, cites both Ricky Gervais and Immanuel Kant, in his observation that there is no “I” in team. The challenge presented by alignment and consensus is that accountability recedes in the group.
Getting things done and moving forward in any organisation or project requires ownership. Ownership is less of a challenge when the path is set. When an organisation is undergoing fundamental change or needs a substantial uplift in performance, caution and consensus can inhibit exactly the forthright and bold ownership of ideas and initiatives which will ultimately drive success.
Strategy meets reality in a visceral way in business.
– Robert Rowland Smith video lecture ‘Killer Questions Every Business Leader Should Ask’, delivered at the International School of Management in Vliniusch.
Nor can this shift from collective accountability to individual responsibility be easily codified. Smith likens the reality of business to Clausewitz’s fog of war. He cites the military observation that no strategy survives encounter with the enemy. The perfect strategy may be helpful but it will not guarantee success. The ability to cope in a confusing, competitive marketplace where the rules may change is hugely important.
Smart use of resource is also a determinant of success. Clayton Christensen, the Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, observes in “How will you measure your life” that the successful implementation of strategy is closely dependent on resource allocation.
At the personal level if a happy family life is a goal, then time needs to be spent with the family. If a particular demographic or geography is critical to growth, surely it makes sense for this segment, or at least an understanding of this segment, to be represented in the senior team and through the company.
Professor Christensen has also spoken and written powerfully about how metrics determine outcomes. In particular he suggests that the return on capital and investment metrics which are used to determine corporate success also contribute to a cycle of investment which ultimately ensures ever greater efficiencies but not investment in the disruptive technologies that will drive growth and promote jobs.
As we look to pick up the pace of corporate performance, conventional wisdom can be misleading. In contrast clarity of thinking about the nature of the challenge, resource allocation and careful selection of the most appropriate metrics can greatly enhance success. A thread running through this Overture is the close link between challenging conventional wisdom and outperformance. Arguably openness to robust but well-founded challenge is an ingredient of success.
Returning to our sporting analogy, we reflect upon the contribution of the enigmatic Ivan Lendl to Andy Murray’s Wimbledon triumph. The unsmiling face in the players’ box clearly helped lift an already excellent player’s game to a whisker away from being the World Number 1 in an intensely competitive sport. Murray himself commented on Lendl’s willingness to be open and to challenge when he thought Murray was not “working hard enough”. Lendl also clearly enabled Murray to draw lessons from failure, if failure is the right term for being runner up in a Grand Slam final!
He’s always told me exactly what he thought. And in tennis, it’s not always that easy to do in a player/coach relationship. The player is sometimes the one in charge. But he’s been extremely honest with me. If I work hard, he’s happy. If I don’t, he’s disappointed and he’ll tell me.
– ‘Andy Murray: Ivan Lendl, the coach behind Wimbledon triumph’, BBC Sport, 8th July 2013
The British and Irish Lions’ emphatic victory over Australia on 6th July promptly buried the enormous controversy over team selection. Warren Gatland’s decision not to select the very popular former Irish captain, Brian O’Driscoll, from the team while selecting 10 Welsh players prompted a storm. Upsetting for Gatland, but his single-minded focus on the task in hand – winning – and the ability to shut out media outcry is surely a lesson to the fainthearted when it comes to team selection.
And last but clearly not least a British victory at the centenary of the Tour de France represents the neatest of analogies. Under the legendary tutelage of Sir David Brailsford, Team Sky secured the Yellow Jersey for the second year in succession. This success was predicated upon the discipline of each team member knowing and fulfilling a very precise role, thereby permitting Chris Froome to outperform in a highly competitive field.
Winning at the highest level is undoubtedly a complex achievement. UK Boardrooms can surely be inspired by the spectacular sporting achievements of British tennis players, rugby teams and cyclists in July 2013. And if this extraordinary concentration of sporting prowess is not enough to spur on corporate UK to pick up the pace, then the July 2013 celebrations just roll on with the arrival of the Royal Prince.
Coming Up…
Overture explores how talent drives valuation. Future editions of Overture will include:
• Owning, building and defending Corporate Reputation
• How Boards keep on learning
• The point of Evaluation
• Governance and new markets
Please contact us with comments or for more information on Fidelio Partners at info@fideliopartners.com