Almost passed on this because I hate soccer lol, but very happy I gave it a chance. That was a fascinating and engaging interview from start to finish and I learned a lot. I would eagerly listen to a part two if Ted were willing to come back on.
Ted is awesome. I'd be more than willing to have him on again if he can find the time. He's great evidence of how a thoughtful approach can work across multiple industries.
What are your general thoughts on team culture as it pertains to team success? I thought your devil’s advocate argument about MJ or Kobe is a pretty good one at 45:00. Culture is all anyone talks about in college basketball meanwhile Bob Knight and Gregg Marshall were 2 of the most successful coaches ever. I don’t even understand how people can compare good vs great culture let alone great vs bad culture. There are too many quantifiable metrics in sports for me to believe it has significant impact.
Good question. I didn't want to go back and forth with Ted on that. I do think the assholes have value, but not to their teammates. It's more about self-motivation than motivating teammates. "I'm surrounded by losers and have to be that much better" is more the line of thinking to get themselves motivated.
When Ted said he has a no assholes policy, my ears perked up because I frankly think it's a shortsighted way of viewing the people in sports. Many of the most successful people in any industry are assholes to some degree - you almost have to be willing to step on some toes in order to climb the ladder. Athletes who are too nice (for lack of a better term) won't have the killer instinct and obsessive focus needed to become elite at the professional level.
Though as Kevin mentioned, there are different kinds of assholes in a locker room. Guys who are miserable pricks because they absolutely cannot stand losing are probably valuable in some way, while players who are entitled jerks with poor social skills and no accountability are likely a drag on the team as a whole (Carson Wentz as an example). I agree that culture is such a vague/opaque concept that we should spend our time analyzing things that can be objectively proven. If anything, a good culture would elevate the statistics of the players involved and we wouldn't need to attempt measuring whatever dark matter lives between the cracks.
Well said. I tend to believe that the primary negative repercussion that poor "culture" can have on a team are people not wanting to be a part of an organization because the coach, front office, or teammate(s) is an asshole. I think even the worst of the worst people aren't going to significantly drive down performance unless you had some wild scenario where a guy refused to pass to a teammate that he didn't like and it brought down the structure of the offense.
I don't buy in to the "motivation" side of culture where teammates and coaches are improving work ethic because they are nice dudes. Athletes (almost at all levels of sport) are intensely driven by the competitiveness that got them to this high level to begin with and are incentivized to work hard by financial stability/college scholarships. Considering this, the idea that a coach might think of themselves as a "motivator" or a guy who "creates a culture" honestly just feels narcissistic.
Yea I’m dubious of the motivation angle too. If a professional athlete making millions of dollars needs an old man yelling platitudes to get up for a game, he probably shouldn’t be a professional athlete.
Almost passed on this because I hate soccer lol, but very happy I gave it a chance. That was a fascinating and engaging interview from start to finish and I learned a lot. I would eagerly listen to a part two if Ted were willing to come back on.
Ted is awesome. I'd be more than willing to have him on again if he can find the time. He's great evidence of how a thoughtful approach can work across multiple industries.
What are your general thoughts on team culture as it pertains to team success? I thought your devil’s advocate argument about MJ or Kobe is a pretty good one at 45:00. Culture is all anyone talks about in college basketball meanwhile Bob Knight and Gregg Marshall were 2 of the most successful coaches ever. I don’t even understand how people can compare good vs great culture let alone great vs bad culture. There are too many quantifiable metrics in sports for me to believe it has significant impact.
Good question. I didn't want to go back and forth with Ted on that. I do think the assholes have value, but not to their teammates. It's more about self-motivation than motivating teammates. "I'm surrounded by losers and have to be that much better" is more the line of thinking to get themselves motivated.
When Ted said he has a no assholes policy, my ears perked up because I frankly think it's a shortsighted way of viewing the people in sports. Many of the most successful people in any industry are assholes to some degree - you almost have to be willing to step on some toes in order to climb the ladder. Athletes who are too nice (for lack of a better term) won't have the killer instinct and obsessive focus needed to become elite at the professional level.
Though as Kevin mentioned, there are different kinds of assholes in a locker room. Guys who are miserable pricks because they absolutely cannot stand losing are probably valuable in some way, while players who are entitled jerks with poor social skills and no accountability are likely a drag on the team as a whole (Carson Wentz as an example). I agree that culture is such a vague/opaque concept that we should spend our time analyzing things that can be objectively proven. If anything, a good culture would elevate the statistics of the players involved and we wouldn't need to attempt measuring whatever dark matter lives between the cracks.
Well said. I tend to believe that the primary negative repercussion that poor "culture" can have on a team are people not wanting to be a part of an organization because the coach, front office, or teammate(s) is an asshole. I think even the worst of the worst people aren't going to significantly drive down performance unless you had some wild scenario where a guy refused to pass to a teammate that he didn't like and it brought down the structure of the offense.
I don't buy in to the "motivation" side of culture where teammates and coaches are improving work ethic because they are nice dudes. Athletes (almost at all levels of sport) are intensely driven by the competitiveness that got them to this high level to begin with and are incentivized to work hard by financial stability/college scholarships. Considering this, the idea that a coach might think of themselves as a "motivator" or a guy who "creates a culture" honestly just feels narcissistic.
Yea I’m dubious of the motivation angle too. If a professional athlete making millions of dollars needs an old man yelling platitudes to get up for a game, he probably shouldn’t be a professional athlete.