Innovation That Matters

Business is more similar to rugby than you might think. No, I’m not referring to scrums, shared showers and alcohol abuse! In this series of posts I’ll use lessons from 20 years of playing and coaching rugby to make you a better CTO.

I’m a long-time subscriber (and fan) of Dan Cottrell who has a great article on 7 things that make a great coach.  I shan’t paraphrase that here — it’s a short article, go read it!

In addition to the points that Dan Cottrell raises above, which are a great foundation, I’d also encourage you to think about your role, breaking it down into three major areas:

Business is more similar to rugby than you might think. No, I’m not referring to scrums, shared showers and alcohol abuse! In this series of posts I’ll use lessons from 20 years of playing and coaching rugby to make you a better CTO.

Well functioning teams are continually making decisions about what is most important, where to position team members, and weighing different risks and options.

In rugby we see this at hyperspeed; within an 80 minute game the players are collectively making thousands of decisions about how to position themselves on the pitch, adjusting their running lines, continually evaluating attacking and defensive options.

Business is more similar to rugby than you might think. No, I’m not referring to scrums, shared showers and alcohol abuse! In this series of posts I’ll use lessons from 20 years of playing and coaching rugby to make you a better CTO.

In a well-functioning team every team member knows what they should do in most situations, has the requisite skills, and can excel with minimal communication. Having a defined, yet dynamic, system of roles and responsibilities, along with trust between team members, ensures the team can quickly make tactical decisions and execute them while on the field.

In this series of posts I will use lessons from 20+ years of playing and coaching rugby to make you a better business leader.

Business is more similar to rugby than you might think. No, I’m not referring to scrums, communal showers and alcohol abuse! In this series of posts I will use lessons from 20+ years of playing and coaching rugby to make you a better CTO and business leader.

Rugby is a team sport. I’d say it is the best team sport, but that’s an argument for another day. In a team TRUST between teammates plays a huge role in a good overall performance. In a team where players trust each other, players have a role and trust each other to perform it well. The team reacts very quickly to complex new situations, because very little explicit process or oversight is required.