Commentary for managers

Book review of 'The Winning Way 2.0: Learnings From Sport For Managers'

The Winning Way 2.0

Learnings from Sport for Managers

Anita Bhogle and Harsha Bhogle

Westland

278 pages; Rs 299

Harsha Bhogle is Indian cricket’s ultimate outsider. He never played the game at any reputable level; he didn’t expediently inherit any known cricketing legacies either. Yet, in a rarity for cricket in India, he is bestowed with a supreme sense of reverence — seldom is any doubt cast over his status as the country’s premier cricket expert. A part of that adulation comes from the fact that he is seriously good. So much so that his presence in the commentary box undeniably elevates the quality of broadcasting. That there is a dreadful dearth of quality Indian broadcasters perhaps sometimes amplifies his brilliance. 

The other bit that spawns such veneration is sagacious marketing. Over the years, Mr Bhogle has made sure he’s never escaped the public eye for too long. In 2003, he penned a biography of Mohammad Azharuddin – minus the scandalous details, though – and has authored a few other books since. After he was left out of the 2016 Indian Premier League commentary roster, he spent some of his time helping Sachin Tendulkar promote his new biopic. When Google CEO Sundar Pichai came calling to the capital two years ago, it was Mr Bhogle who mediated a Q&A session with students at the Shri Ram College of Commerce. 

Mr Bhogle’s latest departure from doing commentary comes in the form of The Winning Way 2.0: Learnings From Sport For Managers, co-authored by his wife, Anita, an advertising and communication consultant. Both were classmates at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. 

Six years after The Winning Way, the two continue to fuse lessons from sport with managerial thinking in this partially absorbing sequel. The examples applied to infuse among the readers that winning mentality are multifarious: The imperious Australian cricket team of the new millennium, the arrival of Mesut Özil at Arsenal, the media-created antipathy between Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Dick Fosbury’s revolutionary technique that forever changed the art of high jump, to just name a few. Even Guru Dutt and Pyaasa, and Harry Potter find some space. 

In a few cases, the collocation of sport and business makes perfect sense. While emphasising how pivotal it is for companies to handle retirements and exits smoothly, the authors point to former Australian wicket-keeper Ian Healy, who was denied an elaborate, fanfare-filled send-off from the game simply because an impeccably groomed Adam Gilchrist was already waiting in the wings. Mr Healy’s departure, as they correctly point out, was what HR managers now call “positive attrition”. 

Some other explanations warrant a deeper discussion. Further elaborating on how companies mustn’t fear blooding in talented youngsters, Mr and Ms Bhogle mention how the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney at Manchester United forced Ruud van Nistelrooy out of the club and relegated Ryan Giggs to the bench. A couple of minor corrections here would help. Mr Van Nistelrooy, in fact, flourished during Mr Rooney’s first two seasons at United, and left for Real Madrid two years later only because of an apparent falling out with manager Alex Ferguson. As for Mr Giggs, despite being crippled by hamstring problems around the same time, he regained his place in the starting line-up after rediscovering his old form. 

The book’s best dissection comes in the chapter, “The Business of Winning”, where the authors attempt to deduce how certain teams end up losing despite being handsomely poised to win. “Teams that don’t win very often invariably don’t know what to do when placed in a winning position. They freeze. They choke,” they write. The paradoxical nature of it – how will you know what winning is if you never win? – aside, the statement is most relevant in our times because of the abject plight of the South African cricket team. Often hyped up as favourites in the run-up to a major tournament, the Proteas have made an excruciating habit of capitulating in difficult situations. 

Mr and Ms Bhogle must be given be credit for carefully avoiding the use of infuriating jargon, a malady that encumbers management books of most kinds. What undoes The Winning Way 2.0, however, is its blatant oversimplification. Recalling the 2006 Johannesburg one-day international between Australia and South Africa, they write: “When, for example, Australia had made a world record 434… the immediate reaction would’ve been to sit in the dressing room with drooping heads. Instead, Jacques Kallis suggested that given the weather and pitch conditions… Australia were probably 15 short.” South Africa did go on to the win the game, but such facile roadmaps for victory rarely prove to be successful. 

Other prosaic assertions such as “Talent alone is not enough” are brazenly obvious assessments that are too well known, and shouldn’t ideally be finding mention in any book. Moreover, the use of famed examples – such as Mr Tendulkar studiously practising for Shane Warne in 1998 – fails to add any newness to the book. 

While we appreciate his knowledge and wit in the commentary box, Mr Bhogle’s attempt at inspiring managers, although backed by sizeable research, falls short of being a winner.