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Management: the mix of inspiration with perspiration. And one who could have been quicker

27th July 2015 By Stewart Lewis 7 Comments

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Two questions.

1. Of whom was it recently said: “The manager does his groundwork, he’s meticulous.  We go into games fully aware of other teams’ strengths and weaknesses – and our own.”

2. Who said: “There is nothing better than hearing ‘well done’.  Those are the best two words ever invented.”

The answers (coming later) relate to management – an area shrouded in myth, both in football and beyond.

During my modest career I attended a number of management courses.  There must have been shortcomings in either the courses or me, because scarily little of it stuck with me or proved useful.  As far as I can recall, just three things:

–     The importance of cashflow (the most common reason businesses get into trouble)

–     The inescapable need (unless you strike oil) for hard work

–     The role of praise and criticism in dealing with people

An elaboration of cash-flow can wait for another day – suffice to say I’m glad David McNally understands it.

As for hard work: fervently as I’ve wished it wasn’t necessary for success, it seems to be.  Thomas Edison, renowned as the ‘brilliant’ and ‘inspired’ inventor of his age, would always reject such descriptions.  Although the phrase gets attributed to others, it was Edison who insisted that “genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration”.

In case we seem to be drifting into a business seminar here, let’s bring this back to football.  Anyone think the first quote (“The manager does his groundwork…”) was about Alex Neil?  It certainly could have been – Russell Martin and John Ruddy have certainly said similar things – though in this case it’s John Terry talking about Jose Mourihno.

There’s no doubt that AN has inspirational qualities – his first intervention at Bournemouth, the ‘wee chats’ that led to vital wins at Watford and Blackburn, the resurrection of Bassong and so on.

But I suspect if we asked him, he’d put more stress on the work ethic and attention to detail that he’s brought to City.  A newspaper report of our training in Germany and Austria summed up life at City as it now is: “Every base was covered, every member of the team knew their role as Neil observed from close quarters.”

That hasn’t always been the case in recent years.
I worked in a people business, as football is.  By far the most practical, and demonstrably effective, advice I picked up related to managing people.  Actually, two pieces of advice:

–        Praise in public, criticise in private

–        Give praise to criticism in a ratio of at least 5:1

Let’s take a look at the most successful British club manager in history, Sir Alex Ferguson.  We know him, right – the man of the half-time hairdryer treatment and flying boots?   Well, perhaps not.  Players confirm that such tantrums were very much the exception in his management style.

A bonus point for those who identified the second quote as Sir Alex.

It’s perhaps worth listening to the quote in full:  “Few people get better with criticism; most respond to encouragement.  For a player – for any human being – there is nothing better than hearing ‘well done’.  Those are the best two words ever invented.”

I’m not sure Glenn Roeder subscribed to that view. But from the positive, fear-free style we’re seeing under Alex Neil, I’d guess he’s of the Sir Alex school.

Some of these issues were aired in a short but fascinating book a few years ago, The Team, by Mick Dennis of this parish.  The book’s eleven chapters gave eleven different perspectives on football from the fan to the chief executive, the agent to the referee.

It also included a poignant note from the author: asked to summarise Mick as a player, some mean-spirited bugger said ‘could have been quicker’.  He obviously didn’t understand the balance between praise and criticism.  Or maybe I just hadn’t been on the course when I said it.

Mick is about to launch a new book, this time comprising different perspectives on our own club.  With chapters by Grant Holt, Iwan Roberts, Bryan Gunn, Michael Wynn-Jones, Paul McVeigh and others, Tales from the City promises to be compulsive reading for Norwich fans.  It’s being launched at Open in Norwich on 11 October, with Mick and many of his contributors.


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Filed Under: Column, Stewart Lewis

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Comments

  1. Ash Diback says

    27th July 2015 at 2:51 pm

    Some mistake surely. 99% + 1% only adds up to 100% – where’s the other 10% that’s needed for total commitment to a job?

    The best advice I’ve heard about management is;
    “Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig.”- Paul Dickson (writer).
    My understanding of that is, don’t try and put square pegs in round holes – identify the qualities of the individuals and tailor the team around them. I think that’s what AN has done so successfully to date.

    Reply
  2. Jim Davies says

    27th July 2015 at 4:02 pm

    Couldn’t agree more with the comments on praise. As for the “inspiration/perspiration” element, wasn’t it famous golfer (I forget who) who replied to someone’s comment that he had just sunk a lucky put, “yes, and the more I practice, the luckier I get”

    Reply
  3. Stewart Lewis says

    27th July 2015 at 5:01 pm

    Jim (2) – Good one. Again, several people have claimed credit but I believe the original is Gary Player.

    Ash (1) – Don’t get me (or Edison) started on 110%!

    For some reason, pigs do make for good quotes. A very appropriate one in this case.

    An underrated source of quotes – and perhaps an underrated man – is US President Harry Truman. As well as his famous “The buck stops here”, he produced some brilliant epithets including my favourite:

    “It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit”.

    Reply
  4. Premier League Pedant says

    27th July 2015 at 9:20 pm

    Every day’s a school day. Very educational Stewart. If we’re getting the quotes out:

    “Most competitive sports are played on a five-and-a-half inch court. The space between your ears” – Bobby Jones

    “Baseball is 90% mental. The other half is physical” – Yogi Berra

    I think Sir Alex Neil succeeded by getting the mentality right. Yes the players knew their jobs, but more important was the confidence, assuredness, and determination that they exuded as a team once he established himself. That’s why I’m confident for the new season. His methods work, and will always work, regardless of minor tweaks to the starting XI.

    As for Mick Dennis’ new book – sold!

    Reply
  5. Mick Dennis says

    27th July 2015 at 10:18 pm

    I suppose you could have been talking about my driving, since I used to take you to games occasionally.
    Thanks for the book plug. I’m blooming pleased with Tales From the City. Jon Rogers (alias BigGrantHolt of YouTube fame) is funny and poignant. The real Holty obviously thinks his years at Norwich were the peak of his career. Michael Wynn Jones talks about the moment he and Delia decided to spend their money saving the club…. It’s all good stuff.
    On management, Fergie swore at me a few times. I moved quickly enough on those occasions.

    Reply
  6. Gary Field says

    28th July 2015 at 8:15 am

    My favourite quote, often attributed to Vidal Sassoon, “the only place where success comes before work is in a dictionary.”

    Sums it up perfectly for me

    Reply
  7. Stewart Lewis says

    28th July 2015 at 11:25 am

    Gary (6) – Another great quote. As we’ve seen, that means a number of people will lay claim to it. This time the ownership seems pretty clear – it’s Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain.

    Reply

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