Written by Thirty years ago, members from some of the rock supergroups in the Seattle, Washington area came together to form the band Temple of the Dog in tribute to a friend who had died from a heroin overdose. One of the songs that came from the band’s solo album was called Pushing Forward Back, and contains the line, “I saw no future in this lack.” According to Merriam-Webster, the word, “lack,” in this case, can mean “to suffer from the absence or deficiency of.” What does this have to do with sports you’re asking? Well, it actually can have a lot to do with sports, especially when it comes to teams that may not be doing so well during the course of their season.
For example, let’s look at the Arizona Diamondbacks in Major League Baseball. They currently hold the worst record in baseball and are sitting firmly in last place. Due to their present situation, they recently parted ways with their Hitting Coach and Assistant Hitting Coach, Darnell Coles, and Eric Hinske, respectively. This is a case of Arizona seeing no future in the absence or deficiency of hitting in their organization, which is how it ties into the Temple of the Dog song.
However, we see the firing of coaches or managers quite often when sports teams are struggling, in last place, or not performing as well as they were expected to be. How does this affect the culture of an organization though? Can replacing the leadership of a floundering organization make it improve? In sports, more often than not, the answer we are given is that, “It has to.” A breath of fresh air, a new perspective, a new way of interacting with athletes can have the effect of improving an organization’s culture, but it can also have the opposite effect.
An example of this comes with the 2012 Boston Red Sox. After the 2011 season, the Sox parted ways with two-time World Series champion manager Terry Francona and brought in Bobby Valentine. The Red Sox were looking for a return to their championship ways with Valentine, however, the season he was the manager, they had their worst record of the 21st century. This prompted an immediate move to replace Valentine with John Farrell, someone who was familiar to the organization and the players, and saw the Red Sox win their third World Series this century. Did bringing in Farrell change the culture of the organization? Many would argue that his return to the team (he had been the pitching coach previously under Francona) did bring back the winning culture they had experienced under Terry Francona.
It can also be easier to replace one or two people as opposed to an entire roster of athletes due to the cost involved. When professional athletes are paid hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars per year, replacing coaches or managers who make a fraction of that makes more financial sense. Even at the collegiate level, with schools spending thousands to recruit players, combined with the money spent on athletic scholarships, replacing a coach or assistant coach can be more fiscally responsible for the school.
The other side to this is that it truly can change the overall organizational culture. If that coach or manager is acting in a way that is not aligned with the values and ethics of the organization, and athletes are afraid to come forward to say something regarding this, it can erode the culture of the team resulting in subpar performance and other team-related issues until it gets so bad that an outsider is brought in to do something about the problems. Which is akin to the issues the New York Mets were having earlier this season, and was written about on this site.
The old saying of people don’t leave organizations, they leave bad leaders, applies to sports as well. Athletes are quick to jump ship if they feel like they are being mistreated by coaches or management, or if they are playing in a toxic environment. There have been countless times when players have been performing poorly for a team, but then get traded mid-season to another team, and start to see a significant improvement. Oftentimes this can be attributed to new coaches, a new environment, and a new culture where the athlete feels more comfortable.
In the corporate world, the same line of thinking can be used regarding poor-performing teams. Evaluate the culture of the team with the leader in place and without. If there is a noticeable difference, then the solution can be clear, a change of leadership to realign the organization with the company goals, values, and vision. Leaders are expected to set the standard for the values and ethics of an organization, and if they are not accomplishing that, it is the responsibility of those whom they report to taking action to remove the misaligned leader or take corrective action to realign them with the company’s goals and values.
Whether the changes made by the Diamondbacks will result in a change in performance remains to be seen. The hope from their fans and team ownership would be to start seeing an improvement in play, teamwork, and culture with the new Hitting and Assistant Hitting Coaches coming in. Sometimes it can be just as simple as the changing of one person to change the culture of an organization.