A Lesson from Lasso

I was late to the party in watching the Apple + series Ted Lasso, but after hearing about it from my friends, my wife and I gave it a shot. If you are not familiar with the series or don't know one of the thousands of people who dressed up as Lasso for Halloween last year, it is a show about a goofy college football coach who gets a job managing a soccer club in London.

He has no experience in soccer and is brought in because the owner wants to sabotage the team. As you can imagine, everyone is outraged, and Lasso's reception is far from civil or kind.

His team thinks he is a joke, the press hammers him, and the fans hurl insults and foul utterances his way wherever he goes.

No matter what happens to him, Ted Lasso responds with kindness and an optimistic attitude. You see throughout the season how he begins to win people over, and the team starts to appreciate him and react to his demeanor by performing above where they should with the talent they have.

In a pivotal conversation during one of the episodes, one of his players asks him how he stays so calm and remains kind in the face of such nastiness. He reveals that the quote "Be curious, not judgmental" is a quote that is important to him, and he says that he realized long ago those who picked on him or belittled him had pre-judged him without really ever knowing anything about him and that it just said a lot about them and had nothing to do with him.

I think that there are several things that we can take away from the message and theme of the series that can help us with our Customer Service and team dynamics. The first is that you cannot let the nastiness of others elicit a negative response from you. None of us like to be insulted or treated poorly. When it happens, it is easy to get defensive and strike back in a manner that matches the attitude that they gave you. This does nothing but drag you down to their level of negativity.

The next is not to let nastiness and ridicule pull you away from your goals and what you believe is right.

The world is full of doubters, and whether it is due to jealousy or pessimism, plenty of people take joy in seeing others fail. While it is important to be self-aware and accept constructive coaching and criticism, stay true to what you believe and push toward your goals and vision regardless of the chorus of critics.

Finally, I believe the quote "Be curious, not judgmental" has significant meaning and provides a wonderful insight into building positive relationships and teams. For example, suppose we seek to understand where someone is coming from and are curious about the "why" of a situation rather than judging based on our preconceived notions or biases. In that case, I believe we can operate with a much higher level of empathy and understanding.

The past couple of years have seen a rise in negativity and incivility, unlike anything I have ever seen.

Maybe it has been the loss of personal connection due to the virtual environments and separation due toCOVID-19, perhaps it is due to the caustic political environment and divisiveness that has been infecting our nation, or maybe it is a result of other factors.

Whatever the cause may be, negativity and incivility are easy to find. Maybe if we all take a cue from the Ted Lasso playbook, we can grow the optimism and positivity and help strengthen our teams and relationships.