Posts Tagged ‘Superhuman Performance’
The CEO as Head Coach
Christopher Otto
With the painful memory of Madonna’s Super Bowl halftime show finally fading, the past NFL season offers some clear lessons on changing the culture of an organization.
The new coach calls his staff into the office. “I want to change the culture here.”
“OK. What do you want it to be?”
“Better.”
Every new leader wants to put his or her stamp on the culture. Without fail, HR designs a jaunty PowerPoint deck proposing everything from cumbersome initiatives to trivial gestures too quickly forgotten; Implement a more rigorous goal-setting process, serve better food in the cafeteria, put foosball tables in the break room, replace the worn sofas in the lobby. If the goal is to increase performance and achieve greater results, these kinds of changes won’t get it done.
This year’s Super Bowl participants have clearly created positive, productive cultures and sustained success over a long period of time. Between them, the Giants and Patriots have won 5 of the last 12 Super Bowls. They are the Google and Zappos of their industry.
More illuminating though is what has happened in San Francisco—where culture went seismic. Despite their glory days of the 1980s and 90s, the 49ers were one of the worst teams in the NFL over the previous decade. The 2010 season was a low point with just six wins. Cash-strapped and reeling, the 49ers made one major change—hiring new head coach Jim Harbaugh.
