THE HIDDEN STRUCTURAL COSTS OF USTA’S INCOMPETENCE. By Javier Palenque

Let us imagine that I am asked by an honest Board member (this will not happen) to explain my views on the problems the USTA faces. This is what I would say: you have all heard or read me talk about the level of incompetence of the USTA leadership. The fact is that nothing happens in organizations without a cost. The issue then becomes how to identify this source of cost (incompetence) and fix it. Once this is done and a vision is in place then the organization can continue to pursue its returns for the shareholders or its mission if it is a non-profit. The USTA scorers poorly on both.

The first thing to do is identify if the costs are of the individuals (the hires) or the structure (the organization and its culture per se). The thing is individual incompetence can be managed, first before the hiring happens and if it bypasses the hiring, these people can easily be removed. The key to understanding is that this incompetence is not structural and easily fixable.

The second part is identifying if the incompetence is structural in nature. There are more subtle hidden structural costs of incompetence, and what they look like depends on where and when they occur in the organization. In addition, one must consider the time it takes for this structure to bond, and forming a solid culture is also key to comprehending structural incompetence.

High-level incompetence, at the managerial, board, or executive level, results in excessive subversion in for-profit businesses or the hardening of a culture and the proliferation of the status quo in non-profits. In a healthy organization, people trust management to make management decisions. The role of management is to have a broader, more strategic view than any person or team in the rest of the organization. When managerial incompetence occurs, managerial trust is lost.

In the USTA the fact is that the lies and deception are approved from the top (tennis is growing, the US Open's success reflects the state of tennis, Pickleball is OK, etc.) then of course the cost of their structural incompetence grows, and is overlooked by the individuals at the bottom of the organization. The fact is the US Open barely makes money for the sport, the waste is massive, the sport is dying in every zip code, payroll is absurdly high, sections do very little, and there is no will to change the structure created by the board.

The solution for tennis is found in the hands of the problem, and the problem is leadership and the structure they have created over time. This is called being on the expressway to decadence and oblivion.

USTA’s management lost long ago its ability to direct, nudge, or otherwise “manage” tennis, and has become truly ineffective. Employees usually still know well enough to tell managers what they want to hear, but they know what is wrong. When you appoint a CEO, who knows nothing about tennis, you are making your top employee and head dependent on the wrong structure to support him. This is a gross mistake.

There are good people at the USTA, but not at the top, those people are very limited in competence, skill, and vision. Please do not take this as a personal attack, with $500M+ per year and making no progress in growing the game, lying to the public about growth is not what any decent or honest director would do or say. Yet current board members have no problem perpetuating the deceit and lies.

Therefore, the structural problem cannot be easily fixed. People become complacent and lifers and management must resort to some combination of carrots/sticks rather than relying on intrinsic motivation and alignment. This structure creates a culture where driven, independent-minded employees have one of two choices: either stop being driven and independent-minded or leave. Which results in more incompetence, and more over-management or the bonding of the welfare culture created at the top. This is structural too; in that it is self-reinforcing. This is the problem of the USTA. Tennis has a serious problem and it needs serious people, not welfare people.

This is how management destroys an organization, this is what the USTA has done and that is why the only solution to fix tennis in America is to replace leadership and board. Please do not believe me, consider these facts:

• ??????? The USTA has never had fewer events under its control. Only US Open.
• Never had fewer adults playing.
• ??????? Never has had so many old adults (over 63+ years old)
• ???????? Never had less membership revenue.
• ???????? Never had so much debt, ($610M)
• ???????? Never had so few kids.
• ??????? Never had higher attrition levels
• ???????? Never has the sport been so expensive to adopt.
• ???????? Never had so few young adults.
• ???????? Less TV viewership
• ???????? Never has more tennis real estate been lost.
• ???????? More threats to the sport.
• ???????? Never has the USTA had more cash on hand ($360M), this means the price of the cash is not worth the destruction of the sport, for those who think. For those who don't, it's more welfare money and job security.

This is why it is critical to rectify structural and individual incompetence as quickly and effectively as possible, at any level of the organization.

Management is always ultimately responsible. Management can hire, fire, reward, and punish, and so any incompetence is management’s responsibility. But if management hires to protect itself, you get the hijacking of the sport, the passing of time, and the waste of the resources that could help tennis but won’t. This is structural incompetence and cannot be seen by most insiders.

However, structural incompetence is easily fixed, but just remember this, the USTA is the best-funded sport not for profit with the least amount of kids playing, and oldest adults, it has failed to carve a future while receiving millions of dollars and wasting most of them in things that matter little to the sport.

The solution to tennis relies on the problem and the problem is leadership. Consider the facts mentioned above and let me know your thoughts. Ah! One last thing, companies pay me to think, but the USTA leadership censors me and forbids their employees from reading facts to help them and the sport. Can you begin to understand the problem.

I say NO to ineptitude and YES to growing the game.

I can be reached at [email protected]

PS.1. Please watch this video, it will reveal the structural problem that the USTA board tries to hide. The sexually abused kid could be your kid and yet the USTA chose to protect itself over a young kid, this is unacceptable if you are a decent American .