The Insider Guide to Careers
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After the World Cup final, the outcome was a big heartbreak for hundreds of millions of Indians. At the same time, I saw many similarities to the workplace while watching the match.
1) Past success has no connection with future success
India learnt this the hard way that even after winning all its games earlier, which included trouncing Australia, the final turned out to be very different. The lesson is that what worked earlier need not work again.
It is the same in the workplace. Just because you did a great job with all your projects earlier will not necessarily mean your latest project will succeed. Please be sure to give every project enough respect. Do not assume success is guaranteed, and do not become complacent. One just needs to be in the present, not be bogged down by the past or be overawed by the future.
2) Past success exists in the past
Even after a spectacular performance by India, it is ultimately the performance in the final which matters. Fans and media will forget all other successes if you do not please them in the end.
In companies, during performance appraisals, there is a tendency for “recency bias” to kick in. This term means that your success or failure in your latest project (before appraisal commences) will unduly influence your overall perception by the manager and stakeholders.
3) Success teaches nothing, but failure does
Considering that 40-50% of the team are in their mid-thirties and late thirties, it makes us question the fitness levels of the Indian team. While some of these folks are unfit and visibly out-of-shape, they were allowed to remain as they were heavy scorers. A counterargument is that the Australian team’s average age is older than the Indian team. I am not saying either team is better in this aspect. Both teams are making short-term decisions that will create a talent bottleneck in the future.
Nobody thought that anyone could replace Sachin until Dhoni came along. Dhoni was impossible to replicate until Kohli came. The truth is that every new generation will throw up a new superhero. But one has got to believe. And one needs to give them a chance.
There are a lot of sacred cows and team members in every company project who do not pull their weight. Managers should carefully evaluate whether these folks are pulling the team down. Sometimes, failure is good because it makes people question the sacred cows. It requires an external reality check to see who the deadwood is and how the team can plan for the long term with the correct set of people.
4) Provide exposure to new talent
Both India and Australia should have brought in some younger talent and exposed them to the World Cup arena. By the next World Cup, many of the old-timers will have retired. The youngsters will struggle even more than usual to increase their performance to World Cup standards. While investing in experienced, time-tested warriors can ensure smooth execution, investing in new talent will provide dividends not today but in the future. A steady talent pipeline for the future should be the goal of every team.
Consulting companies do an excellent job of hiring newcomers, training them and giving them the right opportunities to climb through the ranks. However, only some corporate teams focus on upskilling newcomers because it takes two to three years for an incomer to add value to the company. If you ever interview for a role in a company where the manager is passionate about training and upskilling new employees, that company is worth joining for the long term.
5) Failure needs to be examined systematically
There is a saying that success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan. When something goes wrong, one group rarely makes all the mistakes. It is a collective responsibility. There must be a game plan and strategy to deal with unforeseen situations. The batting, bowling and fielding should be world-class to win a final. It was clear that India had all these elements, but oddly, it did not click in the end. Since India has everything it needs regarding skills, it needs more belief and confidence. The more a team wins, the better it will be. India’s performance before the finals was a reminder that they are no ordinary team and have the potential to be the greatest that ever existed. It is only a matter of time. New talent, hard work and patience will work wonders.
Companies should avoid scapegoating when analyzing failure. Most companies pin the blame on one individual and give them the boot if a project goes wrong. A holistic evaluation is necessary, and the manager should put in place a plan to deal with similar problems. As an example, there is never one function that fails. If there is an operational problem, an observant manager will find gaps in Quality, Sales, Marketing, Service, Product Management, R&D and so on. A meaningful solution will have to fix all these issues.
6) Nothing is predictable
Whether dealing with competitors to your product or playing in a sports field, nobody knows what will happen next. All the analysis should happen before the actual match or product launch begins. After that, all the strategies will go for a toss, as reality is messy and unpredictable. Typically, the teams with the right combination of resources, flexibility, inspiration and hard work will always win.
Just like how the Australian team bounded back after being hammered by India early on, every team will get its chance one day. There was a time when the West Indies were the most feared team in the world, but that seems a dream now.
Every day is a new day. With the right focus, perseverance and planning, outcomes could be very different for a country like India soon. The cricketers are on the last lap of extraordinary success; they need to keep up the tempo to claim their destiny.
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