April 15, 2019 – “Discipline your children, and they will give you peace; they will bring you the delights you desire.” – Proverbs 29:17
Last week, the leader of a group asked each member
to define the noun ‘discipline’ in the business context.
My synthesis from the responses was that discipline
is the nexus between setting targets and achieving success. Its practices may
be disaggregated as follows: (1) respect targets – under promise and over
deliver; (2) aim for excellence – zero defects; (3) stay on budget – cost containment;
(4) ensure continuity of supply – back up systems, over communication and
disaster recovery; and (5) practise timeliness of delivery – newsroom culture.
There has been no shortage of
advice available to the new leadership of Cricket West Indies (CWI)
from cricket savvy persons, including the likes of Professor Sir Hillary
Beckles, Clive Lloyd, Michael Holding, Deryck Murray and Dr. Rudi Webster. All
have contributed significantly to the development of West Indies cricket over
the years and, along with many others in society, have its sustainable success
at heart.
CWI held its first press conference last Thursday
which spoke of precipitous changes presumably to have an impressive early
impact of their intentions. This has already begun to create negative
social media buzz.
The CWI board should be wary that
a stellar assessment of their stewardship over the next two
years will be manifested by stakeholders’ dashboards that are continuously
flashing green. In my opinion, the way to achieve this is to embrace discipline
as the nexus between setting targets and achieving success. This must be
introduced meticulously and in an agreeable manner.
Realistic, measurable and time-specific targets
must be set for each of the following: the governance of West Indies cricket,
investment funding, marketing, performance (on/off field), and training and
motivation of our human resources. In each of these areas, we must under
promise and over deliver.
In our service delivery, we must aim for
excellence. In the Japanese culture, the concept of’zero defects’ in
industry was introduced which spawned a quality revolution. An adaptation of
this concept is appropriate for CWI.
There is sometimes the tendency to splurge in new
administrations in the quest to be visible. However, the best advice is to
develop tight budgets and practice cost containment until a feeling for the
elasticity of the financial space is discerned.
One of the most important factors is to ensure the
continuity of supply of services which means carefully planned back-up systems,
erring on the side of over communication and to establish disaster recovery
plans, in the event of an emergency.
In the business of journalism, the practice of a deadline-driven newsroom culture is paramount in order to meet publication times. Much can be learned from the discipline of this culture, particularly in the business of West Indies cricket, when it comes to the timeliness of delivery of services.
We promote that discipline, in all
forms of business, is the nexus between setting targets and achieving success.
In the context of sustainability of success in WINDIES cricket (men and women)
in all forms of the game, may we caution the new CWI leadership to create an
enabling environment where stakeholder discipline thrives.
Only then, will they bring the delights we desire.
By: Basil Springer
Dr. Basil Springer GCM is a Change-Engine
Consultant. His email address is basilgf57@gmail.com. His
columns may be found at www.nothingbeatsbusiness.com and on www.facebook.com/basilgf.