Sweat the small stuff- Part 2

I spoke earlier about the importance of detail in the world of sport, and another huge advocate of detail was 2003 World Cup winning coach, Sir Clive Woodward. He had been accused of being over-meticulous and also spending huge amounts of money on 'peripheral' things, but he was adamant that every little detail counted in creating an excellent environment. He learnt about the "Critical Non-Essentails" from an Australian dentist, Paddy Lund. Paddy is another whole story, but essentially Sir Clive learnt from him, that all the little things that surrounded the team i.e. the jerseys, the hotel, the warm up clothing, the way they interacted etc needed to be of excellent standard if his team were to be excellent and to be perceived as excellent from outside as well as, more impotantly, from within.

He left no stone unturned in making sure that his team felt like the best in the world. He believed that these little details needed to be taken care of, and everything that was associated with his English side needed to be the best in order to ensure that they felt like the best and therefore acted accordingly. There are numerous examples of this, but two spring to mind for me. Firstly, Clive, out of his own pocket ensured that the England 'team bible'( a book with all plays, what to do and when to do it, ways to treat hotel staff, diets etc) was given to each player in a leather bound casing and using the best paper at a cost of $40 000, as the photocopied handouts, as suggested by the union, were not deemed worthy of a world class team by Sir Clive. A second example was when he moved his entire team out of the Holiday Inn in Newlands prior to the test match in Cape Town and moved them to the Mount Nelson. He decided the shoddy treatment at the Holiday Inn was not good enough, and that this little detail would help create a better environment for his team.

He did not proclaim that these little things on their own would ensure wins. Not at all! But he did believe that all these little 'non-essentials' were critical in forming an environment where excellence was habitual and high standards were non-negotiable in all facets.

Certainly interested me, and makes you think about the environment you create for your team. Please feel free to comment.