A sporting chance

People often comment on South Africa as a country of sports fanatics. I am a self-confessed sports agnostic so for a long time I thought: "So what!"

Through fast implementation and innovation introduce the element of unpredictability so the competition can`t guess your next move.

But over the last few months, I noticed the world-class performance of the South African rugby team and I began to wonder about what goes into building such a team and such consistent performance.

There are many similarities in the way Nick Mallett, South African rugby team coach, talks about what he is doing with the team and his thinking behind its development, and the way in which we think and talk about building a leading information technology business.

The issue is really one of diversity, specifically moving outside the boundaries of a business or industry and consciously looking for input and ideas in other industries and disciplines. With this in mind, we began talking to and working with Nick Mallett.

We spoke about trust, a fundamental element of our team.

Trust among the team members so that each will perform and be there at exactly the right moment in his or her role, to the extent that the interdependency of the team becomes an intuitive strength for the team as a whole. Trust in the leadership and trust in the principles of fairness, honesty and openness. Trust that the role of the individual or his place on the team is based on his skill and ability, and not on personal likes or dislikes.

We spoke about individuals and talent, something that we both understand very well.

Our industry is built on talent much like a rugby team is built on the talent of its players. It became clear that we shared many dimensions, such as recognising the strengths of individuals and applying them correctly for the benefit of both the individual and the team. This requires a "buy-in" from each individual participating on the team. Far from being autocratic and dictatorial, only an inspired team delivers world-class performance.

We spoke about understanding the new rules of the game.

This is extremely relevant in both business and sport. We are living in a state of constant change, where the rules of the game must be well understood and the game itself geared toward leveraging new rules. It emphasises the need to have several game plans, which can be applied to a fast-changing reality. However, it also illustrates the need to stick to a game for a given situation or the team will be all over the floor.

Understanding the rules means understanding the competition and the way they play the game. It also means understanding the offensive and defensive strategies of one`s own organisation. This is a long-term process. In analysing the market and the competition, it helps shape a constantly evolving picture of the competitive space - a useful framework in the strategic thinking process. We develop an almost "intuitive" understanding through consistent analysis of the competitive space. It further highlights an issue that we don`t often acknowledge; that business is about offensive and defensive strategies.

We also had an interesting discussion on discipline. Discipline seems an outmoded concept for the 21st century until you look at it closely. Without discipline we give points away to our competition. However, discipline is not about a rigid, unbending set of rules but rather an understood contract between all the individuals in a team, their leadership and roles that together ensure the self-restraint to act within a predetermined framework or game plan.

Gain and retain possession. If you can hold your line, go for more than 50% of the possession on offer and remain unpredictable to the opposition. You`ll win most of your games.

This is clearly a rule of thumb that works for the rugby team. I believe we each need to develop a rule of thumb for our own businesses. Through fast implementation and innovation introduce the element of unpredictability so the competition can`t guess your next move.

My biggest "aha!" in working with Nick is the close correlation between what is relevant to world-class sport and world-class business moving rapidly toward the new millennium.

Both face the same challenges: attracting, retaining and developing talented individuals, building and inspiring teams toward sustainable, exceptional performance, a continuously changing business and competitive landscape, and a need for continuous innovation and understanding the new rules of the game.