Charlie knew that too many executives devote all their efforts and energies to business and neglect other aspects of their lives. They often live to regret that sacrifice. They forget their families. Their children grow up hardly knowing them. Charlie wasn't going to be an absentee father. So he accepted the position of coach for his son's softball team.
Just as he always strove to be a great manager, Charlie wanted to be a great coach. And he had the tools. He would apply the advanced-management concepts he had learned, which involved starting with a business plan. After all, if you don't have a plan, how do you know where you're going and if you're getting there?
Charlie wanted his team to win the championship. He conducted some market research and determined that a team that won 75 percent of its games would get the trophy. So Charlie drew up a business plan that called for winning three out of four games.
When the season started, it did not take long for a problem to emerge. Charlie's team won only two out of the first four games. He immediately recognized the value of his business plan. It provided an early warning. And it wasn't too late to apply corrective measures. Winning at this rate, they would never get the championship. Charlie had to take action.
He called his team together to talk about the problem-a hallowed management technique. The players pointed out that in their first few games, they had been pitted against some of the tougher teams in the league, so maybe their performance wasn't so bad at all.
But that wasn't covered in the business plan, so Charlie ignored it. He knew he had a good plan, and he was determined to stick to it.
Fortunately, Charlie's business experience showed how to get the team back on plan. He asked his players to fill out forms rating each other's performance. That would help him find their weaknesses.
When the forms were tallied, Charlie could readily see the value of each player. It was immediately clear that the least valuable team member was the catcher; nobody considered him particularly important, except for the pitcher. Now that he had identified the problem, Charlie's business experience told him how to fix it. He kicked the catcher off the team.
Somehow the results weren't quite what Charlie expected. Playing without a catcher, his team lost every game. The pitcher quit in disgust. So did all his other good players. Charlie's team finished last.
Charlie decided to give up coaching and spend more time managing his business, where good management techniques can be counted on to produce strong results.
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