To the chagrin of all art-loving, latte drinking, foreign-film watching bleeding hearts out there, 21st Century Australia is dominated by sport, sport and more sport. So when the ALP considers how it is going to dig itself out of its electoral hole it could look at what Australian sporting clubs do when faced with a crisis.
1. Get everyone swimming in the same direction
An age-old adage in Australian sporting clubs is that if performance on the field is consistently bad for a long period of time then something is going wrong off the field. It could be at board level, or with the coaching staff or player recruitment, but if everyone is not moving in the same direction you can hardly expect the players to get it right on the field.
Simon Crean and his leadership group are the players. Is everyone behind them swimming in the same direction? Can they really be expected to get political traction when there are factions within the party actively undermining them?
2. Do we have the structure in place for success on the field?
You can have all the best tactical ideas for on-field performance but if you do not have the structure in place to facilitate the best outcomes you end up butting your head against the proverbial brickwall. The lines of communication need to be open between all levels of the organisation – between the board and the coaching staff, coaching staff and recruiters, and the club and its fans.
Whilst there have been many internal reforms going in the ALP, have they got the most crucial part of their structure right – open lines of communication?
3. Do we have the right people in place?
It’s obvious that you need the right coach, on field captain and leadership group. To keep your fans turning up week in and week out during bad on-field performances is very difficult, but if the fans believe your coach and captain are capable of turning the situation around they’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.
But the fans are only part of it. If the whole organisation is not in agreement on these key positions then it pervades all on and off-field debate.
The most important qualities of sporting club leaders are a core system of beliefs about the club and the ability to get everyone to sacrifice self-interest for the team’s success.
Are Simon Crean and his leadership group able to inspire this in the ALP? Maybe the lack of a structure behind Crean means he hasn’t got a united team, but I don’t think so. The problem is that there is a fundamental rift about the core systems of belief in the party. Can Simon Crean win over everyone in his organisation to his core system of beliefs? If he can, players will put aside personal ambition for party success.
4. Process over Results
This is a very fashionable concept in sporting circles. If we get the process and execution right then the results will follow. This means preparation – diet, physical training and tactical drills. The thinking is that we get right what we can control before we even think about our opponents.
Rather than responding to the issues occupying the day- to the daily news cycle – the ALP should be getting its preparation right. Do the shadow ministers fully, deeply understand what is happening in their portfolio? Do the backbenchers know what their electorates think? Is there a strong process in place to get all the best ideas in the party to the leadership group? Have they sought advice from specialists outside their organisation?
5. Passion
Fans and coaches will forgive a lot of things if the players have passion. You can have all the talent in the world, but if you do not have passion you will never win the trust of the coach or the devotion of the fans.
The ALP committed a heinous sin by adopting the small target, ‘not lose’ strategy. The leadership turned off ALP representatives, members and supportive voters by not showing passion. The Australian public knows what John Howard stands for but do they know what the ALP stands for.
6. Keep it simple, stupid
Whether the message is from the coach to the players, the club to its fans or the club to its sponsors, the adage ‘Keep it simple, stupid’ always applies. It is the hallmark to success in any club because it usually means that everyone can understand the message and sign up to it.
Whether it is a message to voters or within its organisation the ALP has to keep the message simple. Contrast the knowledge nation hodge podge with IT’S TIME.
Maybe Simon Crean should visit Arden St. and ask the boys at his beloved North Melbourne how they keep a financially struggling club alive.
Disclosure: I’m one of those over-represented, much maligned minority groups – conservative white male. Love my footy (any and all footy), cricket, beer, bourbon and horse racing. My left-over brain cells from years of party hard in Sydney’s pubs and clubs have been used to work over-time (without union representation) and to consume history, philosophy and espionage books. I’ve worked in dodgy $2 shops and as a disability support staffer, a failed pool hustler, a battered and bruised bubble stockbroker and a resident jack of all trades in an industrial technology company in the United States. Pet hates – bad jockeys and self-servicing politicians. Ambitions – to write a decent novel one day and to own a Melbourne Cup winner. (Daniel lives in the blue ribbon Sydney north shore seat of Bradfield.)