On Product Development and More...

It's Fall in the Bay Area. Which means - soccer season. My two kids play in our local AYSO region. And I love watching them play.

What's makes AYSO soccer different than many other children sports is that 1) they aim to create balanced teams and 2) everyone plays - good and bad.

The teams that do well - typically are the ones where the coaches are able to most effectively evaluate their players talents (in terms of shooting, defending, passing, dribbling, athleticism, speed, etc) and position them (as defenders, midfielders, forwards or goalkeeper) to optimize their talents. This is not unlike any other sport. It is the coach who is able to best organize that team (drawing on strengths while mitigating weaknesses) - made up of both strong and week players - some good dribblers, some good shooters, some good passers, some fast/some slow who is able to optimize their play and, hence, results.

On my eldest daughters' team, the coach realized he didn't have the best shooters in the league. He also didn't have the fastest players. Though, he did have players with good ball handling skills. The coach quickly recognized how to craft a line-up that optimized his players skill set based upon the players he had. The coach also impressed upon them the importance of working together as a team. The team was motivated and had exceptional morale.

Contrast that with my younger daughter's team. On this team, the coach had some extremely strong players and some very weak players. The coach crafted a line-up that consistently underperformed. Rather than experimenting to see how to optimize the line-up, the coach continued with the same line-up, week after week, with the same results. The coach was unable to craft a system where the players worked together as a team. As a team, the players were not motivated and had poor morale.

What's fascinating are the similarities between what I see on the soccer field and what I experience in the working world (producing world-quality software products). On one of my consulting engagements, I worked with a software company that was quite talented. Individually, the people had the capability and motivation to deliver high quality software products. Unfortunately, each area was managed by a "coach" whose focus was on optimizing his/her own function - without consideration for the overall result. This is, sort of, akin to the midfielders getting the ball to the forwards and then not moving towards the goal to help the forwards score. While the approach could work, it is a low percentage play.

Because the functions did not collaborate well, when things did not go well, instead of working together to find the "best" solution, each function pointed fingers (at the other). Not surprisingly, office morale was very poor.

In all my experience, the teams that produce the best results are comprised of people who work together with eyes glued on the end goal. Where teams are empowered to be successful. Where teammates are empowered to help one another achieve that success.

Now that the soccer season has ended, I am looking forward to basketball next. To see the type of team my daughter will play on.