The Culture Model & Team Sports

(An Extract from Game Changer by Fergus Connolly & Phil White)

Game Changer

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

THE CULTURE MODEL

One of the most misused words in both sport and business is culture—as much as it’s thrown around, it’s not understood by many. Culture is undoubtedly important and critical to success and affects all aspects of performance, but how to develop it has not been well understood.

The Belief Principle

One key way that a culture—or team—defines and distinguishes itself is through a set of ideas that are held in common. Shared beliefs can drive the thoughts and actions of an organization’s members in the same direction, toward the Commander’s Intent and the mission objectives. Beliefs also provide a moral compass that guides everyone to make the best decisions with good intentions.

HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

One of the fundamental purposes of military training is to get recruits to override their instinct to meet their own personal needs. For a combat unit to simply survive the mission, let alone execute its orders, its members must put the good of their comrades above their own safety. 

In a sports setting, team- mates might not die for one another, but they do need to be willing to sacrifice their own selfish needs and wants for the good of the team.

The Belief Principle

The beliefs of a team inform and help determine its values and the way its personnel view their jobs and the world. The side blocks that hold John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success in place are values that any organization would do well to cultivate, including honesty, sincerity, patience, and reliability. If these guide every individual interaction, decision, and action, then group success is almost inevitable. Following are the four main ways values can be affected:

Moralizing: “Do as I say”—giving verbal instruction, such as, “You must treat each other with respect.” Moralizing can get quick results among those who welcome structure and respect authority, but it usually fails to win over those who like to think for themselves.

Modeling: “Do as I do”—leading by example. This style takes longer to show results but can be more effective in the long run than moralizing.

Experimenting: “You figure it out”—laissez-faire leadership, in which several concepts are intro- duced and then people are left to go their own way. Exploratory learners gravitate to this style.

Clarifying: “We’re going to meet to talk about our values.” This approach reiterates what the lead- ers believe and what the organization stands for. Clarifying can be combined with the previous three styles to great effect. Unlike with moraliz- ing, here the group together explores and investigates what the values of the team mean to each person.