The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!]

Following an incredible season the year before – which saw Forest get into Europe for the first time in 30 years – their first match was against our bogey team, Brentford.

We won. 3-1.

But this post isn’t about the victory … nor is it about the implosion of the team thanks to the ego of the owner and his disastrous and potentially ruinous hiring of Ange Postecoglou who, at this point, has not won a match in 7 attempts and has seen our European and League dreams already end because he’s shit, arrogant and never cared about Forest, just the money he would get from the job [can you tell I’m bitter?] – it’s about the goal Forest scored when Nuno was still our wonderful, beloved manager.

Nor is it about how Chris Woods started sprinting towards goal before Elliott had even reached the ball, let alone made the pass.

It’s actually about what Chris Woods did next …

Yes, he scored, but it’s how he scored that I found interesting.

Truth be told, if it hadn’t been for a post-match interview with an ex-Nottingham Forest player, I may not have realized the significance … but when I heard him talk about ‘the successful strikers mindset’, I suddenly realized how valuable – and relatable – this could be to strategists.

You see in the interview, the ex-player – Gary Birtles – talked about how decisive Chris Woods had been when running towards the goal. How he had decided very quickly how he was going to deal with the on-coming keeper. How once he had made his choice, he was going to stick with it which, according to Gary Birtles, gave him an immediate advantage over the goalie. He went on to say how Brian Clough – the iconic and ridiculously successful Forest manager he played under in the late 70’s/early 80’s and someone I’ve written copious amounts about, over the years – had always told him this:

“When you’re in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper, make your decision immediately and don’t second guess it. It might not always come off, but if you wait or hesitate, you give the competition the split second they need to adapt and then you lose the opportunity of even having an opportunity”.

I love that.

I love that because it gets to the heart of what sometimes strategy needs to do.

Because contrary to what many say – especially those who make their money flogging for-profit systems and models – the reality is the ‘answer’ very rarely reveals or presents itself, you come to a point – once you’ve done the hard work and rigor – of making a call on what you think is best.

It may be to enable a fast result.
It may be to enable a more effective outcome.
It may be to enable a more interesting solution.

But at some point, you have to decide which side of the fence you’re going to jump on and back yourself.

We don’t talk about that enough.

We don’t talk about the importance of the independent mind.

We don’t talk about the value of experience, perspective and belief.

Right now, everything we talk about is systems, models and processes. And while there is a role in those – or at least some of those – if we are outsourcing all decisions and choices to that, then not only should we be asking exactly what the fuck we’re adding to the outcome, we also have to ask why on earth we think we’re going to get to a different outcome that every other fucker following the same one-size-fits-all, the-computer-told-me-to-do-it approach.

Look, I appreciate what we do costs a lot of money.

I also appreciate that means companies are seeking more and more certainty in their lives.

But while some may say allowing someone to make a call on what should happen next is a sign of insanity, I’d argue the crazier thing is to do nothing and let others make the choices and decisions for you.

Sure you need to have experience.

Sure you need to have put in the rigor and work.

But at the same time, you can’t play to win, if you follow a system designed to play not to lose.