Lessons learnt from rugby

The game we all love mirrors many of the challenges facing any organisation.

Lessons learnt from rugby
- Advertisement -

Sunday, 9 October 2011, was a day of tears for SA rugby fanatics. Do you remember? The Aussies beat us by two points in the quarter-finals of the 2011 Rugby World Cup (RWC). The Boks were completely dominant, with a 76% territory advantage and 56% possession, yet we went down 11-9.

Cut to Sunday, 24 October and the 2015 RWC. And we lose to the All Blacks by two points. Only this time, our opponents dominated territory (67%) and possession (57%) for a final score of 20-18. And you have to wonder why the gap wasn’t greater!
Both matches hold key lessons for managers.

Lesson 1 is ‘Defence is what matters most’. The Wallabies’ iron defence in 2011 kept us away from their try line, while in 2015 it was the Boks who stopped the All Blacks from scoring more than they should have.

- Advertisement -

Your organisation’s ability to protect itself from bad weather, from plant or animal disease and from a government hell-bent on making life difficult, will determine your future. It’s the strategies you have for handling these risks that will keep your business alive and growing.

There is no glamour in dealing with this aspect of the business. It calls for a rigorous nuts-and-bolts assessment of the risks and a carefully implemented plan to remove or mitigate them. It’s called ‘risk management’, a topic I’ve written about many times.

Capacity-building
Lesson 2 is ‘Build your capacity to exploit opportunities’. In 2011, the Aussies’ impenetrable defence did not prevent them from making a lightning fast switch to attack when the one opportunity popped up, and it was a quick five points on the scoreboard. In the 2015 match, the Kiwis were always ready to seize a chance, despite being fought back time and again.

In both cases the Boks suffered.

In business, as in rugby, opportunities come to those who keep an eye open for them, but on its own this is not enough. The organisation needs to be in a constant state of readiness to exploit chances, with the right people and resources in place when opportunity knocks.

Discipline

Lesson 3 is ‘Ill-discipline is a potential success killer’. Commentators generally agree that the meagre two-point difference by which we were beaten in the recent semi-final greatly flattered the Boks.

But it was also an indication of something else: ill-discipline by the All Blacks. (The penalty count was 14-6 in favour of the Boks.) Despite their individual skills, speed, tenacity and ability to seize opportunities, the New Zealanders’ lack of discipline nearly cost them the game.

Stay on the ball
In business, it’s discipline that will keep your team on its toes and ready to exploit any opportunity that comes along – or to guard against mishaps.

Discipline keeps you ‘on the ball’. Without it, a good ‘defence’ and the capacity to expand will avail you little.

Heed these lessons and you too can have a champion team!