The Opsimath

The England Football team and business justification

When England lost their recent game against Ukraine, it was not entirely a surprise, as, by winning their previous game, they had already secured a place in the World Cup finals.

So when the 'first-choice' team was picked, their lack of motivation was understandable. These players expect to be chosen for the trip to South Africa next summer. They have little to prove. For them, the game had no purpose.

It is purpose that gives direction and meaning. In project management terms we would call this 'business justification' or the 'project business case'. It explains why we are doing what we are doing. For the first-choice England players, there was no reason, no justification. They had no good answer to the question 'Why?'

So last night, in another meaningless game (for both teams this time), England beat Belarus. How come?

Two main reasons I believe.

• Belarus had no 'business case', where as Ukraine last weekend needed a win to stand a chance of a play-off position. Belarus were making up the numbers.
• England had a changed team, containing enough players who were not sure of their places on the plane to South Africa to ensure that those players brought their own 'business case' to the game. They needed to impress. They had 'business justification'.

It just remains to be seen whether the ultimate decision maker was impressed enough...

Perseverance rewarded

This is  Harraby Athletic from Carlisle, Cumbria. The under-14 squad - dubbed ‘Britain's worst football team’ – were thrashed 19-0 in their first ever game and they went on to record an amazing 90-game losing run.

Every season they would finish bottom of the table.

The team regularly conceded more than 10 goals a game and their luckless keeper has picked the ball out of the net more than 400 times in three seasons.

They have collected just one point in the Longhorn Youth Football League since their formation -  and that was only because the opposing team didn't turn up for a game last year.

But the team, and coach Brett Preston refused to give in.

Preston said, ‘When we lost our first game 19-0, it could have even been a higher score as the opposing manager tried to help us by playing their goalkeeper up-front and a striker in goal.

Yet their perseverance finally paid off last Saturday when they won their game 3-2.

Brett said: ‘The boys have been prepared to stick at it and been willing to learn. They turn up for training in all weathers and really deserve a win at last.'

Perseverance rewarded - what a great story!

Carl Baker and Stockport County - an example to us all

A really good blog here from Paul Fletcher at the BBC. He writes how "such a worthy cause chimes with what made me first fall in love with football." I can only agree with him.

Good writing - great story

Together

It was 40 years ago today...

 

A nice bit of nostalgia here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8185982.stm

The icon of the city

Visiting Cambridge recently, we were struck by the number of bikes there (not literally struck you understand, merely intrigued by the sheer numbers). This image, taken in the grounds of Trinity College captured the iconic status of the bike in that city.

We have nothing to fear...

... but fear itself.

I was recently reminded of this famous quote by Franklin D Roosevelt when reading an article by the writer Mark Greene. He writes:

"Fear poses a real threat to our society. Fear, after all is a cold companion but is rarely a passive or silent one.

Fear changes things. Fear makes the open hand clench and the confident look over their shoulder.

Fear tightens the heartstrings as well as the purse strings. Fear furrows the brow and scowls at play and playfulness.

Importantly, fear stifles the creativity and the appropriate taking of risk that are so vital to all forms of truly good life. After all, all expressions of the good life, economic and otherwise, involve risk.

Seed sown can be pecked up by birds, a job application rejected, a kind word twisted, an invitation spurned. Nevertheless, if no seed is sown, no talent invested, no love offered ... there can be no harvest."

We have nothing to fear but fear itself...

Social Capital

He had just finished busking and was now walking in the same direction as us a few metres in front; we had seen him earlier in his faded jester's hat, denim jeans dragging a little too long on the ground and baseball shoes that could not have kept his feet warm.

Then, with a slight change of direction, he moved in front of a man sitting, begging near a shop wall and gave the begging man some money.

This is an example of what sociologists call 'social capital', people giving to others, normally strangers, without expecting anything in return (sometimes referred to as 'generalised reciprocity').

What a stark contrast between this single event on one of our dark city streets and the stories that have dominated our press and media this last week.

One man, out of his own relative poverty, gives freely to another.

One man, in the midst of his incredible wealth, seeks more and more, refusing to give.

Social capital cannot be deposited in a bank - and perhaps that's a good thing. Social capital can only be invested into our communities, our workplaces and our families - and perhaps that's a very good thing.

Who moved my soap?

For anyone who has to do any business travelling, a little tale:

This is some correspondence which actually occurred between a London hotel's staff and one of its guests.

Dear Maid,

Please do not leave any more of those little bars of soap in my bathroom since I have brought my own bath-sized Dial. Please remove the six unopened little bars from the shelf under the medicine chest and another three in the shower soap dish. They are in my way. Thank you, S. Berman

Dear Room 238,

I am not your regular maid. She will be back tomorrow, Thursday, from her day off. I took the 3 hotel soaps out of the shower soap dish as you requested. The 6 bars on your shelf I took out of your way and put on top of your Kleenex dispenser in case you should change your mind. This leaves only the 3 bars I left today which my instructions from the management is to leave 3 soaps daily. I hope this is satisfactory. Kathy, Relief Maid

Dear Maid -- I hope you are my regular maid.

Apparently Kathy did not tell you about my note to her concerning the little bars of soap. When I got back to my room this evening I found you had added 3 little Camays to the shelf under my medicine cabinet. I am going to be here in the hotel for two weeks and have brought my own bath-size Dial so I won't need those 6 little Camays which are on the shelf. They are in my way when shaving, brushing teeth, etc. Please remove them. S. Berman

Dear Mr. Berman,

My day off was last Wed. so the relief maid left 3 hotel soaps which we are instructed by the management. I took the 6 soaps which were in your way on the shelf and put them in the soap dish where your Dial was. I put the Dial in the medicine cabinet for your convenience. I didn't remove the 3 complimentary soaps which are always placed inside the medicine cabinet for all new check-ins and which you did not object to when you checked in last Monday. Please let me know if I can of further assistance. Your regular maid, Dotty

Dear Mr. Berman,

The assistant manager, Mr. Kensedder, informed me this A.M. that you called him last evening and said you were unhappy with your maid service. I have assigned a new girl to your room. I hope you will accept my apologies for any past inconvenience. If you have any future complaints please contact me so I can give it my personal attention. Call extension 1108 between 8AM and 5PM. Thank you. Elaine Carmen, Housekeeper

Dear Miss Carmen,

It is impossible to contact you by phone since I leave the hotel for business at 745 AM and don't get back before 530 or 6PM. That's the reason I called Mr. Kensedder last night. You were already off duty. I only asked Mr. Kensedder if he could do anything about those little bars of soap. The new maid you assigned me must have thought I was a new check-in today, since she left another 3 bars of hotel soap in my medicine cabinet along with her regular delivery of 3 bars on the bath-room shelf. In just 5 days here I have accumulated 24 little bars of soap. Why are you doing this to me? S. Berman

Dear Mr. Berman,

Your maid, Kathy, has been instructed to stop delivering soap to your room and remove the extra soaps. If I can be of further assistance, please call extension 1108 between 8AM and 5PM. Thank you, Elaine Carmen,
Housekeeper

Dear Mr. Kensedder,

My bath-size Dial is missing. Every bar of soap was taken from my room including my own bath-size Dial. I came in late last night and had to call the bellhop to bring me 4 little Cashmere Bouquets. S. Berman

Dear Mr. Berman,

I have informed our housekeeper, Elaine Carmen, of your soap problem. I cannot understand why there was no soap in your room since our maids are instructed to leave 3 bars of soap each time they service a room. The situation will be rectified immediately. Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience. Martin L. Kensedder Assistant Manager

Dear Mrs. Carmen,

Who the hell left 54 little bars of Camay in my room? I came in last night and found 54 little bars of soap. I don't want 54 little bars of Camay. I want my one damn bar of bath-size Dial. Do you realize I have 54 bars of soap in here. All I want is my bath size Dial. Please give me back my bath-size Dial. S. Berman

Dear Mr. Berman,

You complained of too much soap in your room so I had them removed. Then you complained to Mr. Kensedder that all your soap was missing so I personally returned them. The 24 Camays which had been taken and the 3 Camays you are supposed to receive daily (sic). I don't know anything about the 4 Cashmere Bouquets. Obviously your maid, Kathy, did not know I had returned your soaps so she also brought 24 Camays plus the 3 daily Camays. I don't know where you got the idea this hotel issues bath-size Dial. I was able to locate some bath-size Ivory which I left in your room. Elaine Carmen Housekeeper

Dear Mrs. Carmen,

Just a short note to bring you up-to-date on my latest soap inventory. As of today I possess:

• On shelf under medicine cabinet - 18 Camay in 4 stacks of 4 and 1 stack of 2.
• On Kleenex dispenser - 11 Camay in 2 stacks of 4 and 1 stack of 3.
• On bedroom dresser - 1 stack of 3 Cashmere Bouquet, 1 stack of 4 hotel-size Ivory, and 8 Camay in 2 stacks of 4.
• Inside medicine cabinet - 14 Camay in 3 stacks of 4 and 1 stack of 2.
• In shower soap dish - 6 Camay, very moist.
• On northeast corner of tub - 1 Cashmere Bouquet, slightly used.
• On northwest corner of tub - 6 Camays in 2 stacks of 3.

Please ask Kathy when she services my room to make sure the stacks are neatly piled and dusted. Also, please advise her that stacks of more than 4 have a tendency to tip. May I suggest that my bedroom window sill is not in use and will make an excellent spot for future soap deliveries. One more item, I have purchased another bar of bath-sized Dial which I am keeping in the hotel vault in order to avoid further misunderstandings. S. Berman

Not an Act of Charity

Looking a little more at Barack Obama's inaugural speech last week, and some comments that he made about prosperity. For example:

"...a nation cannot prosper long when it favours only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good."

It reminded me of a quote that is sitting on my desk "Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right; the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom." (source unknown)

Barack Obama went on to say, "To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it."

Everyone would agree that the world has changed. Most would say it was a  change that no-one wanted - job losses, company closures, the near-collapse of the banking system. But what if it heralds the change that is needed in the world? What if the greed and prosperity that has dominated our recent history had to stop? What if we have to look at the world in a new light and see that we now really are a 'global village?

Let me leave you with these facts:

1. Lack of clean water kills more people every day than anything else in the world
2. The estimated cost to make clean water available to everyone is 10 billion dollars
3. Every single year Americans alone spend 450 billion dollars on Christmas

Mr Obama is right, the world has to change, and we have to change with it.