Here's An Idea: Success Disease, Transitions and Complacency

Sometimes teams fail to replicate performances that propelled them to the top, and there are many reasons for this from injury to players moving on to the Success Disease...

"Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive." Andy Grove

The Success Disease

Dynasties in sports are a bit rare. There are a number of reasons for this, one of them being the psychological changes that success brings onto athletes. Success changes people. According to one of the American Football's most celebrated coaches, NFL Hall of Famer Bill Walsh many teams fall prey to the "Success Disease."

In his book, "The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership," Walsh says that the Success Disease makes people forget, to different degrees, the effort, focus, discipline, teaching, teamwork, learning and attention to detail that brought “mastery” and success in the first place.

"Mastery requires endless remastery. In fact, I don’t believe there is ever true mastery. It is a process, not a destination," he wrote.

Few winners realize this, which helps explain why repeated success is so difficult. Success makes teams complacent because they become overconfident in their own abilities. They lose the humility that allowed them to invest in the skills and fundamentals that led them to success.

As a result, the confidence that comes with success often precedes a spectacular fall in fortunes.

Peter Atwater, author of "Moods and Markets: A New Way to Invest in Good Times and in Bad", studies how changes in confidence affect our inclinations, decisions and actions. He looks at things like books, music, architecture and food preferences when researching social, political, financial and business mood. He says that it’s during times of high confidence when kingdoms enjoyed success, that they erected great castles, college buildings and sports stadiums. And interestingly, in the case of empires, these buildings almost always precede the beginning of their demise.

"Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose." Bill Gates

Poor Transition Management

The other problem that teams encounter is failing to properly manage their transition process. Many teams choose to make the decision to move from one crop to another a little too late. They hold on to certain players and combinations, and strategies and tactics, a little too long. They rely on certain combinations way after they should have been developed new ones - which is very important for continuity.

Former Manchester United coach, Sir Alex Ferguson, believes the life span of a successful team is about three or four years. (And I think Alex Ferguson is a good source for such insights...) Therefore, it is advisable for teams to time their transition well, before they get sucked in a loop.

Poorly timed transitions mean that teams are most likely going to face a longer than necessary periods of poor performance. Rebuilding or transitions are never easy, needless to say, it is not an overnight event, but rather, a process. A process that always presents an unfamiliar territory for the team to navigate. And it takes a little time for players to get used to new hierarchy, new roles, new leadership. Transitions are a time of internal chaos. Everyone is bumping into each other trying to find their feet in this new and different ecosystem.

Therefore, the question of transition hinges on timing as much as it does on getting the right personnel to replace the outgoing players.

One of the reasons why transitions fail or take longer than necessary to accomplish is that some coaches and boards view them through the wrong lens. They often approach them as if a mere change in personnel is all it takes. New coach, new players...

Transition is an internal, psychological, process: it's what happens in people's minds as they go through change. It is the inner psychological process that people go through as they internalize and come to terms with the new situation that the change brings about.

Phases Of Transition

In his 1991 book "Managing Transitions", William Bridges outlines the three core phases of transitions. He identified them as letting go of the past ways, a neutral zone where everything seems uncertain, and a new beginning with new ways.

1. Endings:

All transitions start with an ending. This is paradoxical but true. One era has to run its course, or be deemed to have run it's course before a new one can be explored. This first phase of transition begins when people identify what they are losing and learn how to manage these losses. They determine what is over and being left behind, and what they will keep. These may include tactics strategies, a brand of cricket they play or team members.

Endings are more of subtraction rather than addition. Before teams consider replacements, they have to identify what or who needs to make way. That is the only time they can be able to identify the right replacements.

2. Neutral Zone:

The second step of transition comes after letting go: the neutral zone. People go through an in-between time when the old is gone, but not entirely and the new is present, but not fully operational. This is the period where critical psychological realignments and repatterning take place. It is the very core of the transition process. This is the time between the old reality and sense of identity and the new one.

Here, team members are adopting new tactics, new strategies and learning what their new roles will be. They are in flux and may feel confusion and distress. The neutral zone is the seedbed for new beginnings. But if not handled properly, it can lead to a spiral of below-average performances.

3. New Beginnings:

Beginnings involve new understandings, values and attitudes. Beginnings are marked by a release of energy in a new direction – they are an expression of a fresh identity. Well-managed transitions allow people to establish new roles with an understanding of their purpose, the part they play, and how to contribute and participate most effectively. As a result, they feel reoriented and renewed.

Off The Field, As Individuals

On an individual basis, we get left behind a lot more often when we fail to update our views, perspectives and knowledge. New information, developments, is always coming up, and if we do not update ourselves accordingly, we are likely to be left behind. Updating, rethinking and reevaluating  is even much more difficult if what we know or what we did has previously brought us success or praise (just like how championship-winning teams are less likely to make changes the next season.)

An individual is less likely to rethink their diet and exercise routine if it helps them lose a significant number of kgs in the early days of their weight-loss journey. Even if they reach a plateau, they will persist with it. It has worked before, therefore it has to keep working. However, for anyone seeking further weight-loss, sticking with the diet and routine will not be the best course of action.

What is effective today is not always going to be effective. How you once did something is not necessarily how you should always do things.

As Heraclitus said, "You cannot step into the same river twice, for other waters are continually flowing on."

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