by Kerr, James
Fourth, the team required a Credible Plan to Execute. In this the leadership, with their unique shared structure, excelled. Steered by Henry, the men were able to develop and deploy a self-reflective, self-adjusting plan that developed the technical, tactical, physical, logistical and psychological capabilities of their collective.
The plan traversed years, seasons, series, weeks, days and even the seconds the match clock travelled as it counted down to the final whistle. It was a plan executed in public on the field of play, but calibrated behind the scenes, and which led to the most successful period of All Blacks rugby in history.
And a small gold cup.
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We shouldn’t be too surprised that the All Blacks culture had begun to rot from the inside. Unless intervention occurs, all organizational cultures do. The Court Sessions, a hangover from the days of amateurism and a by-product of New Zealand’s wider binge drinking culture, were merely a symptom of a more general and inevitable process, described in graphic form by the Sigmoid Curve.
Though it is tempting to see life, business, society and success as part of a linear progression of constant and never-ending refinement and growth, the opposite is true. Like most things in nature, cultures are subject to a more cyclical process, of ebb and flow, growth and decline. According to Charles Handy (in The Empty Raincoat), this cycle has three distinct phases: Learning, Growth and Decline.
In the Learning Phase, we often experience dips in actual performance as we feel our way through the unfamiliar. Think of Tiger Woods relearning his golf swing or the teething period in which a new CEO gets to grips with the issues of an organization.
Then once the learning has become embedded and momentum builds, so growth accelerates. This is the Growth Phase. Rewards follow. Praise and blandishments too. Soon we’re on top of the game and on top of the world. We’re invincible, our success assured. And so begins the Fall.
The Decline Phase hits us much like the early twinges of arthritis in a middle-aged person. At first an anomaly, it eventually becomes the painful norm. Soon we’re staring at the hollowed-out cheeks of an old person in the mirror, wondering whatever happened to our gilded youth.
The key, of course, is when we’re on top of our game, to change our game; to exit relationships, recruit new talent, alter tactics, reassess strategy. To make what Handy describes as ‘Sigmoid leaps’, a series of scalloped jumps along the Sigmoid Curve, outwitting inevitability.
As a leader this is one of our primary responsibilities, and the skill comes in timing these leaps: when to axe your star performer; when to blood new talent; when to change your game-plan altogether. As the Encyclopedia of Leadership asks:
—— What steps do you need to consider taking so you can prepare for the second curve, without prematurely leaving your current success (on the first curve) behind?
This is the quintessence of kaizan, the Japanese notion of continuous improvement. ‘The idea,’ writes Bunji Tozawa, in a professional white paper, ‘is to nurture the company’s human resources.’ Originally, kaizan was less a productivity enhancer than a ‘culture creator’, a way in which Japanese business could engage and inspire their workforce – to, in Graham Henry’s strategic statement, ‘stimulate the players and make them want to take part in it’.
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Organizational decline is inevitable unless leaders prepare for change – even when standing at the pinnacle of success.
The military have an acronym: VUCA: Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous. VUCA describes a world prone to sudden change, unknown consequence and complex, shifting interrelationships; one that is difficult to decipher, impossible to predict. For the military-industrial complex, VUCA means asymmetric warfare, geopolitical instability and unreliable loyalties. For business, it means structural collapse, credit crises, reputation damage. For individuals, it represents career insecurity, rising prices, housing market illiquidity and an uncertain future. For leaders, it means dealing with decisions that involve incomplete knowledge, sketchy resources and the vicissitudes of human nature.
In his seminal paper ‘Destruction and Creation’, the military strategist John R. Boyd created a theory with direct applicability to a fast-changing environment. ‘To maintain an accurate or effective grasp of reality,’ he argued, ‘one must undergo a continuous cycle of interaction with the environment to assess its constant changes.’ He asked himself, ‘how do we create the mental concepts to support decision making activity?’
His answer was the Decision Cycle or OODA Loop.
OODA stands for Observe, Orient, Decide and Act. It is quick to apply, and useful for everyday decision-making.
Observe
This is data collection through the senses; visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, taste – as well as more modern metrics. Like an animal sniffing the wind, we gather the raw material for response.
Orient
This is analysis, synthesizing all available data into a single, coherent ‘map of the territory’ – a working theory of our options.
Decide
This is the point of choice; where we determine the best course of action. We cut away the extraneous by making a decision.
Act
We execute; acting swiftly and decisively to take advantage of the moment. We then go back to the beginning and observe the effect of our actions. And so the loop continues.
Boyd’s analysis of dogfights over Korea had shown that the pilots who got inside the OODA loop first were those who survived. To prevail in conflict, Boyd says, we ‘must be able to form mental concepts of observed reality, as we perceive it, and be able to change these concepts as reality itself begins to change’.
Boyd’s theories are remarkably similar to those of Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov, a Russian general born in 1719 who wrote the military manual The Science of Victory. He believed in:
‘It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change.’
Charles Darwin
Hystrota
playing a fast-paced game
Glazometer
making quick decisions that disorient the opposition
Natisk
acting aggressively to seize the competitive advantage
That is, move rapidly into a commanding position, assess your unfolding options quickly and clearly, attack with absolute and ruthless commitment – assess, adjust and repeat. Or as the All Blacks would put it:
—— Go for the gap.
For Boyd, Suvorov and the All Blacks, adaptation is not a reaction, but a systematic series of actions. It isn’t just reacting to what’s happening in the moment, it is being the agent of change. This is achieved through a structured feedback loop – by building the adaptive process into the very way we lead.
How does this work in practice? Kevin Roberts, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, talks about 100-day plans:
—— Getting started is deceptively simple. First list around 10 things you need to achieve over the next 100 days. Start each plan with an Action Verb and use no more than 3 words each. Make sure each action is measurable and that each one is a stretch. You’ll know when something is a real stretch and when you’re just creating a list with things you can tick off. Review your list every Friday morning. When the 100 Days comes round, the goal is to have each item checked off. All you need to do then is get a sheet of A4 paper and get started.
Whereas once 50 per cent of his time was spent on assessment, he explains, and 20 per cent on execution, today all information is instantaneous. Consequently 70 per cent of his time – and that of the company’s other leaders – is now spent on execution.
A committed All Blacks fan, Roberts, who was born in Britain and made his home in New Zealand, was instrumental as head of Saatchi & Saatchi Wellington in developing the All Blacks’ brand in the professional era. When asked what he’s learned from the All Blacks and how they inspire him, he answers:
‘It’s about going for the gap.’
It’s about adapting quickly to change by creating an adaptive culture.
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In 2004, the All Blacks faced a precipice.
With results declining, key players threatening to leave and cultural dysfunction endemic, the management had to act and act quickly. In his report to New Zealand Rugby Union at the end of that year (as recounted in Bob Howitt’s Final Word), Graham Henry identified his key areas of focus:
° Sufficient leadership, knowledge and confidence to implement the game plan
° The transference of leadership and therefore responsibility from the coaches to the players
° The development of leadership ability and composure
° The necessity for the group to understand their identity – who they are, what they stand for, and their collective and individual responsibilities as All Blacks
The following chapters outline the actions the leadership took to turn their vision into action – and the 15 key lessons we can learn and apply to our own particular field of play.
So that we too can go for the gap.
Go for the Gap
Momentum swings faster than we think. One moment we’re on top of the world, the next falling off the other side. The role of the leader is to know when to reinvent, and how to do it. The Sigmoid Curve means that when we’re at the top of the game, it’s time to change our game. The key is not losing momentum. As the military have discovered, the best form of attack is a continuous feedback loop and, as we know from kaizan, this process is best when it involves your people. The teams that will thrive in this VUCA world are those who act quickly and decisively to seize competitive advantage; adjusting and readjusting along the way. You either adapt, or you lose; and sustainable competitive advantage is achieved by the development of a continuously self-adjusting culture. Adaption is not a reaction, but continual action, so plan to respond.
Go for the Gap
When you’re on top of your game, change your game.
—— I orea te tuatara, ka puta ki waho.
When poked at with a stick, the tuatara will emerge. (A problem is solved by continuing to find solutions.)
III
PURPOSE
—— He rangi tā Matawhāiti, he rangi tā Matawhānui.
The person with a narrow vision sees a narrow horizon, the person with a wide vision sees a wide horizon.
PLAY WITH PURPOSE
Ask ‘Why?’
New Zealand Rugby Union Headquarters, Wellington, 2004
Soon after that long, painful flight back from South Africa landed, eight men found a small meeting room in the headquarters of the NZRU and sat down to ‘fix this thing’.
In the room were Henry, his assistants Smith and Hansen, Enoka, the mental skills coach, Shand, the team manager, Brian Lochore, former captain, coach and team manager, All Blacks captain Tana Umaga and his then vice-captain, Richie McCaw. The meeting was to last three days.
Graham Henry describes it as the most important conversation of his All Blacks’ career. It would result in the complete overhaul of the most successful sporting culture in human history.
The key insight came from the old warhorse, Brian Lochore. Pondering the strategic objective – to create ‘an environment . . . that would stimulate the players and make them want to take part in it’ – he came up with the six words that would define the efforts of the next eight or so years:
—— Better People Make Better All Blacks
That is, by developing the individual players and giving them the tools, skills and character that they needed to contribute beyond the rugby field, they would also, in theory, develop the tools, skills and character to contribute more effectively on it.
This ‘Kiwi kaizan’ was a focus on personal development, both as human beings and as professional sportsmen, so that they had the character, composure, and people skills to be leaders, both on and off the field.
The challenge was to make this work in practice. ‘There was no blueprint,’ says Graham Henry. ‘You couldn’t just look it up on the internet.’
How they managed it – and turned their vision into action – provides invaluable insight for business leaders looking to effect culture change that delivers sustainable competitive advantage.
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In many ways, the story begins back in 1997 in the pretty, provincial city of Christchurch, nestled in earthquake country on the edge of the Canterbury Plains. This Cathedral City is the crucible of New Zealand rugby, and the heart of this particular All Blacks team. Most of the men in that three-day meeting in Wellington in 2004 had a strong connection to the Canterbury Crusaders, including Henry, Smith and McCaw, the current Crusaders captain.
Better People Make Better Leaders
Back in 1997, right at the beginning of professionalism, the Crusaders were just starting out; and it hadn’t started well. As Wayne Smith says, the problem was that ‘There wasn’t an existing culture.’
The new ‘franchise’ had yet to win the hearts of the locals. It was made up of players from all over the country, diluting any local allegiance, and was suffering an identity crisis.
‘We all bought into an idea of trying to create our own culture,’ says Smith, ‘and to do that we used storytelling. We had to put forward stuff that inspired us and that inspired the players.’ He says, ‘I really wanted the campaign to be vision driven and values based.’
He adds, ‘If you are going to set goals [the players have] got to set goals. If you’re going to be vision-driven and values-based, they have got to be a huge part of setting that.’
Smith says, ‘Whether it’s family, whether it’s legacy, whether it’s enhancing the jersey, whatever, you need to identify what it is [that gives the players purpose] so that you remain driven.’ He adds, ‘It’s about purpose and personal meaning . . . Those are the two big things.’
‘The more you have to play for,’ Gilbert Enoka summarizes, ‘the better you play.’
To turn their vision into something that the players could identify with, they needed a theme. The first came from Shakespeare’s Henry V: ‘for he today who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother’.
‘We wanted to establish what a Crusader man would look like, what would drive him,’ says Smith. ‘It took a couple of weeks really to make sure that everyone bought into what we came up with, what the players came up with.’
The Crusaders had lost their first season of Super Rugby. After Smith and Enoka’s intervention during 1997, they won the competition in 1998 and another six times over the next decade. They are the most successful outfit in Super Rugby history.
They became, in Enoka’s phrase, ‘the being of team.’
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‘The emotional glue of any culture – religion, nation or team – is its sense of identity and purpose,’ says Owen Eastwood. What we identify with are the ‘things we recognize as important to ourselves – to our deepest values . . . this kind of meaning has the emotional power to shape behaviour’.
Leaders connect personal meaning to a higher purpose to create belief and a sense of direction.
This connection of personal meaning to public purpose is something the All Blacks focus on, almost obsessively: ‘It’s about what you bring today,’ says Enoka, ‘and how you’re going to fill that jersey.’
Personal meaning is the way we connect to a wider team purpose. If our values and beliefs are aligned with the values and beliefs of the organization, then we will work harder towards its success. If not, our individual motivation and purpose will suffer, and so will the organization.
Good leaders understand this and work hard to create a sense of connection, collaboration and communion. ‘Purpose relates to an overarching goal beyond the practical missions that are pursued day in day out,’ writes Eastwood. ‘This drives the individual’s intrinsic motivation, and gives a reason to belong, and a reason to sacrifice.’
The subject of ‘identity’ is so big in organizational culture, of course, that brand consulta
ncies, advertising agencies and engagement specialists all vie for the opportunity to define and deliver it. In this space, business strategy, vision, values and purpose conjoin with corporate identity, design, advertising and communications to deliver powerful shifts of mindset and behaviours within teams and organizations.
It begins from the inside out.
As New York Times columnist Daniel Pink explains in his book Drive, ‘Humans, by their nature, seek purpose – a cause greater and more enduring than themselves.’ The most convincing arguments for his theories are the simplest to understand:
‘We leave well paying jobs for purpose-driven ones.’
‘We volunteer.’
‘We have children!’
Pink argues that ‘purpose maximization’ is taking its place alongside profit maximization as an aspiration and a guiding principle for businesses around the world. His work reflects the ‘Hawthorne Effect’, the idea that emotional reward is more important than material compensation. That intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation rules the world.
This aligns with Abraham Maslow and his famous ‘Hierarchy of Needs’. Maslow thought that, once beyond the satisfaction and security of your basic needs – safety, food, water, shelter, warmth, comfort – you are no longer driven by purely extrinsic motivations and can turn your attention to deeper needs. The first, a sense of belonging and love; a partner, a family. From then on, life becomes about esteem; self respect, the respect of others, recognition for our talent, our capabilities, our behaviours.
In Maslow’s world, we all move towards a sense of self-actualization. That is, a psychological state of presence, flow, self-respect, self-expression and authenticity.