{"id":16281,"date":"2020-11-06T11:17:27","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T11:17:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etims.net\/?p=16281"},"modified":"2020-11-06T11:17:27","modified_gmt":"2020-11-06T11:17:27","slug":"change-happens-on-the-frontier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=16281","title":{"rendered":"Change Happens On The Frontier"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Imagine if change wasn\u2019t an event, a transaction, a moment in time\u2026 What if it was a mindset you chose \u2013 a seed you could grow and sustain?” Kotter<\/p>\n

As I sat down to write this I came across a few quotes on change, one of which went along the lines of “Change is painful, but nothing is a painful as staying somewhere you don’t belong”. It got me thinking, having again reflected in puzzled wonder at just how shite Celtic were last night, on the comments post match and specifically the commentary from Lenny on changing culture. Change and Culture are two areas I’ve studied and have a keen interest in. I’ve worked in both fields as well and would be of a similar vintage to Lenny. He’s a few years more than me on the clock and admittedly a much better footballer. I’ve been lucky to work in high performing organisations and equally lucky to go into organisations which were culturally a busted flush with a remit and the authority to turn it around. Every day of the week I’d choose the former over the latter however the sense of achievement in shifting an organisation and team culture for the better ranks among possibly the best career achievement I’ve had. It was hard hard yards though, dealing with egos resistant to change, snakes, charlatans and people who just couldn’t change. If we’re at a point of a new cycle with Celtic then change is needed but I get a sense that we’re witnessing the end of a cycle of not just players, but management and structure. And, if it’s a cultural issue, we have much greater deep rooted problems that won’t fix overnight.<\/p>\n

Culture, eh? \u201cCulture eats strategy for breakfast\u201d as Peter Drucker, an expert in the field of management consultancy is oft quoted. Culture is the tacit social order of an organisation: it shapes attitudes and behaviours in wide-ranging and durable ways. Cultural norms define what is encouraged, discouraged, accepted, or rejected within a group. When properly aligned with personal values, drives, and needs, culture can unleash tremendous amounts of energy toward a shared purpose and foster an organisation\u2019s capacity to thrive. When a new leader takes the helm in a senior position in an organisation, behaviour and cultural norm is typically the first tangible thing the group will evaluate in buying-in to the new leaders vision. When changing culture you need clarity of purpose, vision, scope and most importantly of all, buy-in. And you must \u2013 absolutely must \u2013 live and breathe the very norms you\u2019re espousing. When it works, wow. Invincible Treble. Dominance. Entertainment. Players exhibiting superhuman trait, walking on air. But when it breaks down, it gets really really ugly. Moussa. AEK. Valencia. Regression. Shved. Exit as a rat. I fear what we witnessed last night was a poster child for a culture that is rapidly breaking down.<\/p>\n

We talked recently at eTims towers about identity. It may have been in the annual cross dressing challenge for Scottish Independence Zoom call that Gaudd chairs or in a WhatsApp but either way, my take on it was\/is that we are a team that lacks identity. Culture needs identity and vice versa. We\u2019re not cloggers, tiki-taka artisans, hoof ball merchants, sophisticats, all-out attack, hammer throwers, street wise, park the bus merchants or any of those things. There\u2019s an argument that a team needs to be in parts all of the above. But one dominant trait should clarify identity. I can\u2019t for the life of me see it anymore.<\/p>\n

Under Rodgers it was ball retention, possession and tactical awareness coupled with risk and a belief in the system, even when getting a 7-0 cuffing. Lenny took over post-rat event and stuck with it. Success. Lenny then tweaks in season two and we start well, fade, he tweaks again and success. 9IAR. On the cusp of another treble. Quadruple treble on the cards. Then the event, whatever it was, kicks in. I contend that in letting Sinclair, Gordon and Hayes and others go we made a monumental error of judgement. In Duff leaving we were just victims of circumstance. But that these combined ripped identity straight out of culture. All three \u201cgot\u201d Celtic. All three \u201cgot\u201d the pressure and potential of 10IAR. Ripping that out leaves Lennon\u2019s culture exposed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In Rodgers we had a top class Irish manager in the British game, who whether you believe him or not, also \u201cgot\u201d Celtic. His staff all were either used to the operation of football outfits at the highest European level (Davies, Congerton et al) or player at the highest level (Toure and subsequently Duff). While Congerton\u2019s value is debatable, the environment appeared to be one where the players were united, enjoying their days learning and a coach and staff who gave them safety and order. In Rodgers, the new leader came with a philosophy, methodology, gravitas and a willing bunch of players who had lilted somewhat under Deila. Rodgers in football terms literally made them invincible. The staff bought in, players, even the fans. We had unity of purpose. In Lenny we have a successful Irish manager in the British game who not only \u201cgets\u201d Celtic and where we are, but has been there and done it. But is he top level? I don\u2019t think so but I\u2019d trade successful and knows how to get it done over played nice football in mid-table EPL and won fcuk all every day of the week. What we have shifted to is a culture where the player is measured on results, empowered to take his own decisions and supported by a manager who offers purpose and cover (caring). Lenny\u2019s style in high performance culture is the exact opposite to Rodgers.<\/p>\n

What Lenny is facing now is a crisis I\u2019m not sure that anything other than a top class manager \u2013 or, and I hate saying it – a change in management can fix.\u00a0 We moved from tutelage under Rodgers with a willing and attentive classroom, all with personal development plans and a charming, attentive headmaster, into a culture of High Performance where the player is giving his syllabus, his tools and told to get out there and do his job. There\u2019s no tickling yer baws, late night heart to hearts with the manager, \u2018you\u2019re the best\u2019 flattering, what there is is direct man management, trust from the manager to his team and an expectation of reciprocity which doesn\u2019t appear to be there. Call it a breakdown in discipline or players abusing the empowerment, either way I think this is the chasm we now see. The players either can\u2019t convert, won\u2019t convert or, more dangerously, are now subverting the manager. If that\u2019s the case, we\u2019re collectively fcuked in the short term but it is redeemable.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Another management guru named John Kotter has a model for implementing change in organisations. It’s tried and tested and grounded in decades of research. It applies as much to the local under-10’s as it does a multi-national. Whether or not we redeem this with Lenny, or whether a change comes, we\u2019ll see soon enough. He\u2019s played his card now and called out the culture of the organisation as the problem. We can\u2019t say he hasn\u2019t flagged it. Lenny called out players who didn\u2019t want to be there at the start of the season. He questioned their desire for success. He identified a leak and the notion that we were \u201ckilling ourselves from within\u201d to paraphrase. \u00a0We seem to have fixed the leak of the team in the short term, but how and through whom is for internal machinations only.<\/p>\n

We now have our Kotter sense of urgency, in Brown et al we have a reduced numbers but willing guiding coalition, the strategic vision is clear, the volunteer army (one for the armchair rebs there) is in place but I think we\u2019re stuttering to remove the barriers. If the barriers are ability or trust or belief in the coaching or methodology then we go right back to square one, needing another sense of urgency. That record can only replay so long till the players chuck it. Whatever breakthrough we need needs to happen soon.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve said it before and nothing has changed. Neil Lennon has my 100% backing and I believe he should have yours too. Whatever plays out he at least deserves that.<\/p>\n

\"5030B355-D781-4746-9B74-A8ED22E83086.jpeg\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Imagine if change wasn\u2019t an event, a transaction, a moment in time\u2026 What if it was a mindset you chose \u2013 a seed you could…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2J7If-4eB","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16281"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16281"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16284,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16281\/revisions\/16284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}