<font color="#ff0000">Guest Article: </font> Vinay Kanchan: Life after the final whistle

The world of sport, especially football, provides a real-life canvas for ideas relevant to the world of business as well

As the greatest show on earth ends, the corporate world lumbers back to its unfinished PowerPoint presentations, deferred increment meetings and queried conveyance vouchers.

The monumental event in Africa has left the world with many fond memories. As is often the case, the world of sport provides an interesting real-life canvas to eke out ideas relevant to the world of business, leadership and management.

Let us examine some, which unfolded amidst the cacophonic setting of blaring vuvuzelas.

No more pain for Spain

It was interesting that both the nations that made it to the World Cup final had been labelled perennial underachievers in the sport. But is this reputation really justified? Can such sweeping generalizations be made at an overarching, national level?

In the case of a team brand, it is instructive to note that the key ingredients (the players and the manager) are completely turned over every decade or so. So, would it be fair to extrapolate the failures of one group as the crosses of unfulfilled dreams for successive generations to carry?

Every team playing in a World Cup is different from its predecessor. Perhaps, it needs to be seen more for its primary components, rather than the prevalent historical legacy. That being said, Spain must be breathing a lot more easy after their epic triumph. But sadly for the Dutch, the cross they've had to bear might just have got a whole lot heavier.

When personal experience can be a handicap

Brazil never came close to playing with the same cavalier abandon that characterized the '70 and '82 teams. This was because there were different philosophies at work for them in Africa.

Their coach, the rugged Dunga, set up the squad in his own self-image of a hardworking, tough, tackling midfielder. This squad was extremely workmanlike, and sorely (and intentionally) lacked flair players. That decision came back to haunt them.

Diego Maradona, by contrast, built his team around two extremes. He put together those who had beautiful goals in them, with those who were raised to stop them. His squad and tactics glossed over what lay in between, literally at the centre of the park, the labour ethic of Dunga; perhaps because of Maradona's own disdain for those lacking in flair.

Needless to say, neither team went as far as they would have liked to -- a case of great players being inebriated by their own biases.

And this might explain why those with a relative outsiders' perspective generally make for better managers -- Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho and Joachim Loew being shining examples.

The fading of the 'I'

Past editions of the World Cup were set alight by the brilliance of individuals. Pele, Maradona, Cryuff, Zidane and Ronaldo, all left their indelible stamps. But this one truly marked the triumph of the system, or the team over the individual.

Indeed, many of the players touted to be the superstars of this tournament were left playing more to television commercial scripts, than for their teams' benefit. All the four teams in the semi-finals were characterized by the lack of a prima donna in their midst. Finally, the triumph of Spain was down to a system of ball possession, patient probing and having 11 highly competent players on the turf; as opposed to trying to set the stage for one superstar player to shine.

The trend of the lesser fancied teams being able to hold and upset the giants of the past is also a reflection of how the evolving team dynamic is beginning to trump purely individual flair. And that might not necessarily be such a bad thing for a game that qualifies as the ultimate in team sport.

No new waves in the offing

Every World Cup brings its own set of audience rituals. South Africa was the performing stage for the blowing of the vuvuzelas. The steady, bee-like drone of these instruments is embedded in the memories of the tournament itself. But will these boisterous bugles make it to subsequent tournaments outside Africa?

Perhaps, the greatest audience ritual ever created was the Mexican Wave. Profound in its simplicity and elegant in its intention of conveying to the players on the pitch that things were getting a tad dull. And every single time it is performed, because of its very nomenclature, the minds of people are involuntarily cast back to that 'brand of World Cup' in Mexico.

What really transported the Mexican Wave across editions and made it intrude into other sports as well, was its ease in execution. You needed nothing more than a willing group of people. And that as Malcolm Gladwell would put it, got this ritual to really "stick".

Chances are that one won't hear the vuvuzelas again in Brazil; but be certain to witness a few Mexican Waves in action.

Poised to enter the era of machines?

This would be the World Cup that settled the argument in favour of technological intervention. It did take a few refereeing controversies to nudge the issue in favour of this initiative; but like in the case of evolution, one needs the churn before the change. While the focus will be on preventing mistakes that result in game-changing decisions, special attention needs to be paid to the emerging trend of 'serial diving'.

Sport began in ancient civilizations as a controlled environment, in which children could be taught the right things. But today, given the influence of media and the tendency of the mind to mirror what is seen on television; more kids imbibe diving before dribbling. And ever so subtly, they are learning to cheat to get their way at the same time.

It is possible that technology will never be able to replicate human instinct and perspective in this context, but together, they can help arrest this. Eventually, we are all better off dealing with errors of a human, rather than a moral, nature.

Four years hence, Brazil will welcome the World Cup. There will certainly be fresh ideas rung in by that tournament as well, in football and otherwise. Every World Cup does bring to the fore its own dose of surprises. What these will be no one can quite predict at this moment. Though, I am sure, Paul the Octopus would beg to differ.

© 2010 afaqs!

(The writer is an independent brand consultant and creative thinking trainer. He is the author of the book, 'The Madness Starts at 9'; and also the patron saint of a football movement called Juhu Beach United, that celebrates 'the unfit, out-of-breath working professional of today'.)