Manchester United Football Club are having another shambolic start to a new season. After hundreds of millions of dollars spent over the summer (following hundreds of millions in the last few), the team still looks disoriented and disorganized.
Or at least that’s what the scoreline and the summary of the text commentary said.
I don’t think I’d have watched even if I had the option.
The manager, Erik Ten Hag, has shown himself to be proficient at making excuses for over 15 months now. When the club’s operations were taken over by new owners, they expressed their doubts about ETH. Somehow, against all odds, they overcame their doubts, believed his side of the story, and retained him.
It reminds me of Frank Slootman’s fantastic quote “when there’s a doubt, there’s no doubt.”
The entire excerpt from his book “Amp It Up” was insightful – “Years ago, I used to hesitate and wait situations out, often trying to fix underperforming people or products instead of pulling the plug. Back then I was seen as a much more reasonable and thoughtful leader — but that didn’t mean I was right. As I got more experience, I realized that I was often just wasting everybody’s time. If we knew that something or someone wasn’t working, why wait? As the saying goes, when there is doubt, there is no doubt.”
“Back then I was seen as a much more reasonable and thoughtful leader – but that didn’t mean I was right.”
I’ve thought about those words a lot since I read his book 2 years ago. I think of it when I see Erik Ten Hag and Manchester United. I think of it every time I see organizational dysfunction caused by senior leaders.
When there’s a doubt, there’s no doubt.
