One for the All Blacks

By Pascal Dennis

Congratulations to New Zealand’s All Blacks, Rugby world champs again!

The AB’s beat an ornery Aussie team in the finals last week and added to their legend.

Kiwi commentator Bruce Cotterill nicely summarizes the learning points for leaders at all levels.

The fundamentals are eternal, no?

• A clear and noble purpose, consistently communicated


• A clear and simple plan, developed through back and forth engagement


• A set of standards that guide behavior, consistently practiced


• Relentless checking and honest reflection


• Total involvement gained by humble adherence to the above practices

These are easy to say, and almost impossible to sustain.

Why, you ask? Because we humans are sly, lazy, dishonest, imperfect creatures. (At least this one is.) At best, we partially succeed.

My guess is the All Black’s post championship reflections included a sober assessment of what went wrong, and what they can improve upon.

So it goes. St. Jerome kept a human skull on his desk to remind him or his mortality and imperfection.

(Being a far less evolved being, my desk sports a Green Bay Packers cheese-head.)

Occasionally though, for a team or organization, the center comes together and holds.

Well done, All Blacks.

Pascal

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Death, Taxes & the Maple Leafs, part 2

By Pascal Dennis

Last time, I reflected on the catastrophic failure of one of ice hockey’s most iconic teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Leafs have made the NHL playoffs exactly once these past 11 years, and have not won the Stanley Cup in 48 years. In their first half century, by contrast, the Leafs won 11 Stanley Cups, and were famous for their tenacity and grit.

In a Fan’s Five-Why Analysis (FFWA, ahem), I suggested the root causes include a) disengaged senior management for whom profitability is paramount, and b) market failure (no competition).

If so, what are possible countermeasures? Or are Leaf fans doomed to eternal suffering, like, say, Chicago Cubs fans?

Root Cause 1 – Indifferent Ownership Focused Solely on Profitability

Possible countermeasures include:

• Fan boycott,
• Maple Leafs are bought by a sympathetic billionaire who loves them, and doesn’t mind ‘under-performing’ investments.

Root Cause 2 – Market Failure (no competition)

This systemic failure which requires a systemic countermeasure. To wit,

• The NHL approves a second (or third) southern Ontario NHL franchise. This is turn might require a change of NHL By-Laws to reduce MLSE’s veto power.

How likely are such countermeasures? Snowballs and the Inferno come to mind. (One wag suggested a banner be erected at the Leafs’ home stadium: Abandon all hope, all ye who enter!)

Sadly, the fan’s’ only countermeasure is the boycott, which many, including me, have embraced. For five years now, I have been an avid follower of the splendid Chicago Black Hawks, and their captain, Jonathan Toews.

As it happens, the Maple Leafs once had such a captain - George Armstrong. ‘Army’ led the Leafs’ legendary 1960’s teams that won four Stanley Cups.

Army is also a member of my gym – a gentle giant, still ram-rod straight and pumping iron in his 80’s.

Talking to Army, I’m struck by his humility. “We considered it an honor to play for the Leafs,” he told me. “That blue & white jersey meant something.”

“It sure meant a lot to me,” I replied. Army’s response reminded me of the New Zealand All Blacks motto: Leave the jersey in a better place.

I leave you with one of my earliest hockey memories: Game Six of the 1967 Stanley Cup finals, Maple Leafs versus their arch rivals, the Montreal Canadiens.

Less than a minute to play, the crowd is going nuts. George Armstrong wins the face off. The puck goes to Allan Stanley, who relays it back to Army at the blue line.

Army looks up, shoots and scores. Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup.

Best,

Pascal

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Death, Taxes & the Maple Leafs, part 1

By Pascal Dennis

Trust our northern hemisphere readers are bearing up with winter – and our southern hemisphere colleagues with summer!

Not a bad winter so far in the Great White North, bright blue skies, and less snow than usual. For fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey club, however, it’s another winter of discontent. The Maple Leafs, one of ice hockey’s iconic teams has made the NHL playoffs exactly once these past 11 years, and has not won the Stanley Cup in 48 years. In their first half century, by contrast, the Leafs won 11 Stanley Cups, and were famous for their tenacity and grit.

This year the Leafs are cellar-dwellers once again, having now lost 11 straight games, and 17 out of 20. Yet, Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) continues to earn record profits. Such is the appetite for hockey in Ontario. Can you imagine Bayern Munich, the New York Yankees, New Zealand’s legendary All-Blacks or any other team sinking so low? Didn’t think so.

When things go this bad, this long, there must be ‘special causes’. (You may recall, dear reader, my earlier philippics.)

What are these causes? And are there management and life lessons in the Maple Leafs’ demise? I hope you’ll indulge me a Fan’s Five-Why Analysis - (ahem, FFWA…).

Five Why Analysis – 1st Chain

Why has the richest team in the NHL sunk so low? Because the players aren’t very good and they don’t care.

2nd Why? Because the general manager, and coaches aren’t very good and don’t care. (As a result, management processes around the team are lousy)

3rd Why? Because senior management doesn’t care that their general manager, coaches and players aren’t very good and don’t care – and that the management processes around the team are lousy.

4th Why? Because senior management is focused on making money, not on sporting excellence. (MLSE’s avarice is notorious, and begins with $ 16 dollar beer, and $ 12 dollar hot dogs.)

5th Why? Because they have no emotional connection to the team, fans or community. (For example, neither the President, nor General Manager live anywhere near Toronto or have meaningful interaction with the community.)

Five Why Analysis – 2nd Chain, breaks off at 5th Why

4th Why? Because senior management is focused on making money, not on sporting excellence.

5th Why? Sporting excellence does not help MLSE make money. At least one senior executive has admitted, infamously, that MLSE makes more money when the team is marginal.

6th Why? There is no competition. The NHL has granted the Leafs a de facto monopoly in a hockey mad region. Applications for new NHL teams in southern Ontario have been repeatedly rejected (after intense lobbying from MLSE).

In summary, the root causes of the Leafs’ catastrophic failure include a) disengaged senior management for whom profitability is paramount, and b) market failure aided & abetted by the NHL.

There are other root causes, of course, which a detailed investigation would uncover. But these seem central to me, and to most other commentators.

A sorry state of affairs! Next time – are there any possible countermeasures? Do forlorn Leafs fans have any hope?

PS Here’s a funny link expressing the depth of fan dismay

Best,

Pascal

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One for the All Blacks

By Pascal Dennis

The Maple Leafs – Lowest of the Low blog generated fine feedback - and not a few catcalls from disaffected fans! Thanks, everyone.

Tip of the cap to Mike Butler, my Kiwi friend & colleague, for excellent insights into the nature of excellence in sport, and in life.

Something remarkable has been happening with New Zealand’s legendary All Blacks rugby squad since their disappointments in the mid-aughts.

First, commitment to a set of principles [Here]

Second, an unshakeable focus on the process. [Here]

The AB’s purpose is elegantly expressed: “Leave the jersey in better place.”

Living by a code and focusing on the process takes fortitude, the ancient word for courage.

(”Says easy, does hard”, as we used to say in the old Toyota factory.)

When things are going badly for a business, temptation whispers, “It’s mid-year, and we’re losing the game. To heck with our process!”

In a panic, the management team jettisons its strategy and starts pressing random buttons. (“Something is bound to happen!)

In fact, things usually get worse, because we’ve added random variation to the system.

Don’t want to be misunderstood. By all means review target versus actual, both for end-of-pipe and process measures, and adjust as needed.

But follow the strategy deployment process. Grasp the situation with respect to gaps, go see for yourself, and involve team members in improvement.

Come to think of, this sounds like the AB’s process.

Best,

Pascal

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