The end justifies the means...or does it?

“Ollie Watkins scores one of the greatest goals in England history – and Gareth Southgate’s subs work”

Above is one of the headlines the morning after the night before.

I wonder what it would have said if Ollie Watkins hadn’t scored that goal? I wonder what the headline was at 89 minutes 55 seconds, just moments before the ball went it?

Just to demonstrate this, here's a headline from the same newspaper only 8 days before after the game vs Slovakia- admittedly not from the same journalist.

?“Stubborn England making life harder for themselves with Gareth Southgate’s subs – here’s the proof”.

Poor Gareth, he can’t win, can he? Inspired substitutions? Pure genius or just luck?

Of course, the journalists, all of them wise after the event with lashings of either outcome bias or hindsight bias, ?will influence the nation with their thoughts and in doing so Gareth’s tenure in the job as well as calling into account his capability- I guess that goes with the job but how hard must that be to endure that?

Aside from letting us all know (thank you very much journalists) that Gareth’s substitutions on Wednesday night get the approval of the newspapers- take a look at the headline again, ?“Ollie Watkins scores one of the greatest goals in England’s history”.

Really? A bit of digging on the internet shows that since the England men’s football team had its first game in around 1870 there have been something in the region of 2320 goals.

Now, I can’t disagree, that goal was exciting, it had everything didn’t it and how fantastic for Ollie too but one of the greatest goals in England’s history?

Its easy to be wise after the event of course and in doing so create a narrative to suit the outcome but that can be flawed & certainly problematical when judging things in a moment.

So, with outcome bias in play & all in the press room delighted with Gareth, England fans can look forward to an exciting final on Sunday.

What I applaud Gareth Southgate for personally is his decision & courage to “change the game”.

He could see time running down he HAD to do something. Who does he send on?

He looks at his bench & sees Cole Palmer and Ollie Watkins there & looks at how the Dutch were playing & felt they could go on and make a difference & to the nations relief he was right!

But what would have happened if he selected another two players, would the outcome have been the same? What would the headlines have been then?

So, how does this nicely segue into our decisions in the workplace & with our teams?

We can’t have people sitting in the café or meeting rooms waiting to be deployed in a role when someone else was not getting the results we expect ready to be thrown into the fray like Cole and Ollie so we need to make sure that we have all our people engaged and performing in a mode that inspires & fulfils them.

We need to be careful that we don’t start to write our own headlines based on the outcome rather than the process- in other words we need to do our level best to make sure we have our teams focussed on the role they are asked to perform with consistency & passion.

One such way is to work with The GC Index .

This is a profiling tool that gives us data to have visibility on where people feel they can have the maximum impact in a role or with tasks that enthuse them.

In brief The GC Index measures individuals’ proclivities in five main areas:

1. Game Changer: These individuals thrive on innovation and disruptive ideas. They challenge the status quo and drive change.
2. Strategist: Strategists focus on long-term vision and planning. They excel at creating strategies and navigating complex situations.
3. Implementer: Implementers are action oriented. They get things done efficiently and effectively, turning plans into reality.
4. Polisher: Polishers pay attention to detail and quality. They refine and improve existing processes and solutions.
5. Play Maker: Play Makers are team-oriented and collaborative. They bring people together, build relationships, and facilitate teamwork.

Each proclivity contributes to a well-rounded team & all of us have a blend of these proclivities within us so that awareness allows us to be able to dial up or dial down these qualities to suit the task to hand.

Of course, the job is the job but if we have the information to hand that shows us where our people are most effective we can ensure that we don’t need last minute changes to get the outcomes we want- we can ensure everyone’s shoulders are to the wheel and the outcomes we want are the outcomes we get – no hindsight or outcome bias here!

So, back to Sunday. Another footie fact for you , the most common score line is 2-1 so I guess Wednesday night had a degree of inevitability about it but what about Sunday?

?Will it be 2-1 and for who?

Will Gareth leave his subs until everyone is yelling at the TV or shouting in the stadium & the journalists are writing & deleting headlines as fast as they can?

Let’s see!

But remember, 2-1 – you heard it here first.

Have a great weekend.

PS- If you want to reduce hindsight or outcome bias or any other bias for that matter in your organisation then drop me a DM or call me on 07885 447039 & I’ll explain just how it’s done