People Vs Process - The Start Of The Transition

[gazareth]

One very important point that I have observed over recent months is that we appear to be in transition from a people-focused business (club) to a process-focused business (club). I realize this sounds like yet more management speak, but bear with me!

Football is traditionally a people-focused business in general. When you think about successful teams, you often associate those with certain people: Manchested United of the last 25 years with Sir Alex Ferguson; Arsenal 1998-2004 with Arsene Wenger; Liverpool of the 60s/70s with Bob Shankly. In each case it is easy to point at the success and attribute it to people, This is often the manager, but it can also be players and non-football staff. Another example: Blackburn's title-winning side (Kenny Dalgliesh, Alan Shearer, Jack Walker).

The problem for any business is that if it becomes too dependent on the talents and abilities of any individual, the success is much harder to sustain. When the time comes from that individual to move on, or if that individual stops performing, it can be so difficult to find someone else with those same talents to continue in the same vein as his or her predecessors. Think about Leicester post-Martin O'Neill or Charlton post-Alan Curbishley.

Bristol City have embodied this culture as much as any club over the last 15 years or so. Our successes and failures can all be attributed (though not always accurately ) to individuals. Before the appointment of Gary Johnson, we were struggling in League One. We had some moderate success under his management, and since his departure, we have struggled. I would argue that this is because we have not adequately replaced Gary Johnson the person. This even extends to our board - we have been reliant on the deep pockets and generous soul of our former chairman and owner, Steve Lansdown.

What we are starting to see now is the move away from being a focus on people, to a focus on processes. This is the model that has been so successful for Swansea and which looks to be returning rewards for the likes of West Brom and Brighton. Sean O'Driscoll's has recently spoken about ideals such as Bristol City players having certain attributes, and also about the ideal sustainable club having a structure whereby the U-21 coach is groomed to eventually succeed the Head Coach, and so on. Away from the playing side, the club is making moves to boots its community profile, improve the output of the Academy and invest in the facilities and stadium. All of this points to a process-focused business.

So what's the point I'm getting at? What's the end game of such a change? It is clear that we are being led towards a Bristol City Football Club that will no longer be reliant on a superstar manager or a rich chairman; a Bristol City Football Club where established scouting practices and a productive academy feed into the first team; a Bristol City Football Club that can fend for itself when money from an owner is not pouring into the club at will. I for one like the look of where this is heading. The parallels with Swansea are obvious and one only needs to look at the frequency with which they have changed managers over the last five years without any significant setbacks on the playing side to see the benefits to a model like this one.

We have to be realistic. We are not going to see a foreign owner pouring millions of pounds into the club to fast-track us into the Premiership. We are not going to see instant success, and we may well take several years to bounce back from League One. We may even endure a couple more difficult years as we make our way through the transition. But if we come out of the other side and turned this club into a sustainable one that can exist in its own right without depending on any one person, then it will be all worthwhile.

[BCFC_Dan]

Very, very good post.

Those who are unhappy with the Lansdowns should be pleased with the current plans. If all goes to plan then the club will no longer be reliant on a rich individual but can become a self-sufficient entity for the community once again.

[Roe]

Agree with all of this and I think it's the right way forward. It'll take time to properly implement of course and people need to be patient.

[Monkeh]

One very important point that I have observed over recent months is that we appear to be in transition from a people-focused business (club) to a process-focused business (club). I realize this sounds like yet more management speak, but bear with me!

Football is traditionally a people-focused business in general. When you think about successful teams, you often associate those with certain people: Manchested United of the last 25 years with Sir Alex Ferguson; Arsenal 1998-2004 with Arsene Wenger; Liverpool of the 60s/70s with Bob Shankly. In each case it is easy to point at the success and attribute it to people, This is often the manager, but it can also be players and non-football staff. Another example: Blackburn's title-winning side (Kenny Dalgliesh, Alan Shearer, Jack Walker).

The problem for any business is that if it becomes too dependent on the talents and abilities of any individual, the success is much harder to sustain. When the time comes from that individual to move on, or if that individual stops performing, it can be so difficult to find someone else with those same talents to continue in the same vein as his or her predecessors. Think about Leicester post-Martin O'Neill or Charlton post-Alan Curbishley.

Bristol City have embodied this culture as much as any club over the last 15 years or so. Our successes and failures can all be attributed (though not always accurately ) to individuals. Before the appointment of Gary Johnson, we were struggling in League One. We had some moderate success under his management, and since his departure, we have struggled. I would argue that this is because we have not adequately replaced Gary Johnson the person. This even extends to our board - we have been reliant on the deep pockets and generous soul of our former chairman and owner, Steve Lansdown.

What we are starting to see now is the move away from being a focus on people, to a focus on processes. This is the model that has been so successful for Swansea and which looks to be returning rewards for the likes of West Brom and Brighton. Sean O'Driscoll's has recently spoken about ideals such as Bristol City players having certain attributes, and also about the ideal sustainable club having a structure whereby the U-21 coach is groomed to eventually succeed the Head Coach, and so on. Away from the playing side, the club is making moves to boots its community profile, improve the output of the Academy and invest in the facilities and stadium. All of this points to a process-focused business.

So what's the point I'm getting at? What's the end game of such a change? It is clear that we are being led towards a Bristol City Football Club that will no longer be reliant on a superstar manager or a rich chairman; a Bristol City Football Club where established scouting practices and a productive academy feed into the first team; a Bristol City Football Club that can fend for itself when money from an owner is not pouring into the club at will. I for one like the look of where this is heading. The parallels with Swansea are obvious and one only needs to look at the frequency with which they have changed managers over the last five years without any significant setbacks on the playing side to see the benefits to a model like this one.

We have to be realistic. We are not going to see a foreign owner pouring millions of pounds into the club to fast-track us into the Premier League. We are not going to see instant success, and we may well take several years to bounce back from League One. We may even endure a couple more difficult years as we make our way through the transition. But if we come out of the other side and turned this club into a sustainable one that can exist in its own right without depending on any one person, then it will be all worthwhile.

To long didn't read

Nah top post, I did say to people at work a few months ago that we will have to go backwards to go forwards, If the board can sort out the wages then we will start to see this happen,

Look at the effert being put into the devlopment squad/league and trying to acheve a cat 2 academy this will leave us in a strong postion in the future,

Again trying to rebuild/devlop the ground will again prove great in the future (most clubs that get a new ground show a rapid improvement)

The problem with this club and its fans is that they not willing wait they want it and want it now, trying to buy our way out of it hasn't worked so we have to re-build and take a long too approch,

[HanwellRed]

Second all that.

Probably too long a post for most on here to get through but well thought out, very astute and quite probably (from where i stand) correct too.

There is a great book called "Why England Lose & Other Curious Football Phenomena Explained (http://tinyurl.com/q3fpy9) that covers similar ground with reference to Lyon in France.

Once a middling second tier side they adopted a number of new processes and strategies to avoid over-reliance on individuals, develop their own identity and provide a platform for continuation that ultimately lead them to win the Ligue 1 seven times in a row.

NOT saying we'll do the same, BUT definitely believe this approach is the way forwards.

[Jordan Tansley]

Is Bob Shankley a combination of Shanks and Paisley?

[SimonL]

Can we have this as a sticky please ready for next season.

[MichaelRobartes]

Really good post, I enjoyed reading that.

Is Bob Shankley a combination of Shanks and Paisley?

I assumed that too, heheh

[RedRaw]

Sean O'Driscoll's has recently spoken about ideals such as Bristol City players having certain attributes,

So Gazareth......what part of Bristol be you from?

[Esmond Million's Bung]

Just hope SO'D is given time.

and so do I, but with one important caveat, please don't bullshit us, the past 2 managers were past masters at it, just tell us the truth and don't try to sound as though you have seen something different to the rest of us.

[Red Skin]

Excellent post. Totally agree.

You can understand the idea of a Director of Football and First Team coach and how this fits with the model. Player recruitment needs to be by the club to fit with the 'Bristol City' way rather than players chosen by any particular 'manager'. The alternativea nd what we have had so far is that each manager buys his 'own' players and cannot work with many players signed by his predecessor. This ramps up squad numbers and ties up wages paying players that never feature, or we are left to pay up contracts or sell at a large loss. Madness.

S O'Driscoll has always been adamant he is Head Coach not manager. I cannot recall him ever slagging off the players or describing them as someone else's players. He seems happy to work with whatever staff he has to get the best results he can. I can see him staying for a good many in this role working in a similar way to Dario Grady has with Crewe.

Given FFP getting a clear and consistent club ethos rather than relying on the cult of the personality does seem like the only sustainable way forward.

[AshtonGreat]

Just hope SO'D is given time.

I say give him time if there are obvious signs of improvement/development. We can't just hang on to someone for the sake of it. We did that with McInnes and look where that took us

[real_bristol]

What I find concerning is that BCFC have only now accepted the importance of scouting / academy set-ups in relation to furthering the progression of a football club. Surely these are rudiments of the game - not something you become aware of in the last year or so.

With the OP's post in mind and the reference that the club has been operating on a 'throw money at it' basis, rather than the former, I am intrigued that if this was SL's modus operandi, why did he not throw more money into this policy, as opposed to a limited budget (albeit substantial funds in relative terms), to achieve the goal of Premier League football.

Better late than never with the academy.

Spending beyond our means is different to throwing money at it but both are unsustainable. Lansdown probably spent more when he saw we had the chance of reaching the premier league which is understandable, now we are suffering a bit from that and subsequent failures.

Fantastic OP, shame not everyone sees it that way.

[i hate you butler]

One very important point that I have observed over recent months is that we appear to be in transition from a people-focused business (club) to a process-focused business (club). I realize this sounds like yet more management speak, but bear with me!

Football is traditionally a people-focused business in general. When you think about successful teams, you often associate those with certain people: Manchested United of the last 25 years with Sir Alex Ferguson; Arsenal 1998-2004 with Arsene Wenger; Liverpool of the 60s/70s with Bob Shankly. In each case it is easy to point at the success and attribute it to people, This is often the manager, but it can also be players and non-football staff. Another example: Blackburn's title-winning side (Kenny Dalgliesh, Alan Shearer, Jack Walker).

The problem for any business is that if it becomes too dependent on the talents and abilities of any individual, the success is much harder to sustain. When the time comes from that individual to move on, or if that individual stops performing, it can be so difficult to find someone else with those same talents to continue in the same vein as his or her predecessors. Think about Leicester post-Martin O'Neill or Charlton post-Alan Curbishley.

Bristol City have embodied this culture as much as any club over the last 15 years or so. Our successes and failures can all be attributed (though not always accurately ) to individuals. Before the appointment of Gary Johnson, we were struggling in League One. We had some moderate success under his management, and since his departure, we have struggled. I would argue that this is because we have not adequately replaced Gary Johnson the person. This even extends to our board - we have been reliant on the deep pockets and generous soul of our former chairman and owner, Steve Lansdown.

What we are starting to see now is the move away from being a focus on people, to a focus on processes. This is the model that has been so successful for Swansea and which looks to be returning rewards for the likes of West Brom and Brighton. Sean O'Driscoll's has recently spoken about ideals such as Bristol City players having certain attributes, and also about the ideal sustainable club having a structure whereby the U-21 coach is groomed to eventually succeed the Head Coach, and so on. Away from the playing side, the club is making moves to boots its community profile, improve the output of the Academy and invest in the facilities and stadium. All of this points to a process-focused business.

So what's the point I'm getting at? What's the end game of such a change? It is clear that we are being led towards a Bristol City Football Club that will no longer be reliant on a superstar manager or a rich chairman; a Bristol City Football Club where established scouting practices and a productive academy feed into the first team; a Bristol City Football Club that can fend for itself when money from an owner is not pouring into the club at will. I for one like the look of where this is heading. The parallels with Swansea are obvious and one only needs to look at the frequency with which they have changed managers over the last five years without any significant setbacks on the playing side to see the benefits to a model like this one.

We have to be realistic. We are not going to see a foreign owner pouring millions of pounds into the club to fast-track us into the Premier League. We are not going to see instant success, and we may well take several years to bounce back from League One. We may even endure a couple more difficult years as we make our way through the transition. But if we come out of the other side and turned this club into a sustainable one that can exist in its own right without depending on any one person, then it will be all worthwhile.

well said sean!

[gazareth]

well said sean!

Oh be quiet, Derek.

[Welcome To The Jungle]

Great post, keep it on standby mods when we're mid table and the moaners are out in force