Four Lessons Business Can Learn from the Rugby World Cup

How do you improve efficiency, consistently deliver a quality product, ensure accountability to task and increase productivity? Everyday challenges in today’s business world but also, you may be surprised to hear, in a high-performing international rugby team. 

The answer… Organisational Development.

Inside Track has spent much of the last four-year World Cup cycle working behind-the-scenes with some of the tournament’s leading teams. Here’s our four main takeaways from what we are currently seeing out in Japan 2019 – how many resonate with you?

1.    Strategy – Clarity of Direction: The best nations have absolute clarity over their game plan and what they are trying to achieve – a clear vision that is set from the top and most importantly, is understood and can be articulated throughout the whole ‘team’ – players, coaches, support staff, management. They also work hard to design their future, by attempting to predict how the game might change one to two World Cycles out from a tournament so they can then ID and develop the best young talent based on what the athlete of tomorrow might look like – crucially, also being flexible enough to accommodate late developers and any talent transferring from non-linear pathways. All the time a process that is becoming increasingly scientific and objective-based over selection ‘by the eye’, with the use of data increasingly more prevalent to confirm decisions and avoid unconscious bias.

2.    People – Organisational Design and Effectiveness: The sum of the parts is not just about the right players being talent ID-ed. The best teams place as equal importance on coach and support staff talent development as they do on their players. And the organisation also reaches outside of the ‘team’. Those that spend time nurturing and influencing partners and stakeholders not directly under their control are the ones that generally widen their chances of success. Yes of course the Head Coach is accountable, but no one has a monopoly on a winning idea. Finally, top it all off with putting everyone in an environment where people can thrive – the big differentiator in pulling together a winning outfit.

3.    ‘Offer’– A Quality Service/Product that Meets Customers’ Needs: Boring rugby can win trophies but increasingly now there is more at stake. The style of play arguably also now ‘needs’ to entertain and satisfy a diversity of eyeballs gazing in through rugby’s shop window. Close integration of youth and Academy athletes with a Senior Squad can help accelerate development and replicate the quality of rugby required – well before graduation to the Pro ranks. The key here is quality and holistic development – ‘high performance’ – being demanded throughout the age ranks to ensure young players going through a team’s ‘Academy/training experience’ become great people in their own right, free-form decision makers on the pitch and ready to roll when the calling comes.

4.    Culture – The Way We Do Things Round Here: And finally, the real secret. Those teams with the ‘edge’ are often the ones that place the greatest emphasis on a set of core values that drive everyone’s behaviours – from top to bottom – and set the operating culture for the whole ‘team’. Get these right and you have hearts and minds. In turn, your organisation will self-regulate, flow harmoniously and deliver results on the pitch. ‘Kaizen’!

www.insidetrack.uk.com specialises in Organisational Development. We work both in sport and in business to help organisations align strategy, people and processes to maximise their performance. We are offering a free HPO (High Performing Organisation) Scan for anyone interested in finding more out about how some of the above principles might apply to their business. Just e-mail david.henwood@insidetrack.uk.com before the end of the RWC Final on 2 November 2019 to register your interest and schedule in your free online assessment.