we ain't got no history 
03-04-2024 23:04
03-04-2024 23:04
Pochettino: ‘We are Chelsea but we need to behave like Chelsea’
Quality mindset is a phrase commonly heard in today’s corporate world, certainly in high tech, and is a bit of a catch-all concept aimed at increasing not only the actual quality of work produced, but, as the name would imply, the mindset of those involved in actually producing the work.
As with any such concepts, it’s a somewhat abstract idea that sounds great on paper and in presentations and in meetings — consultants love it! — but is hard to define in actual workflows and everyday application. That said, the idea itself is not without merit, and it’s one that can apply to any job where the quality of work produced is just as important as the amount of work completed.
And this idea, despite its name, isn’t just about mindset, but is also about the necessary actions and behaviors that go along with it. These may be your own actions, but also the actions of your coworkers, peers, teammates. Quality is everyone’s responsibility. Put that on a coffee mug. You are responsible for producing the highest quality work that you can produce, and also that your team can produce, which meets or exceeds customer expectations and requirements.
What’s that got to with Chelsea?
Well, since our new CEO made it fairly clear that fans are just customers at the end of the day, perhaps we can hope that our expectations will be actually met one day — maybe even exceeded? — if this current group can (eventually) adopt some sort of quality mindset. We might even have a name for it already: winning mentality.
I’m not sure what Mauricio Pochettino might call it, but it seems like he understands its principles just the same.
“We are Chelsea but we need to behave like Chelsea. If we want to belong to a big club, it’s not an excuse to be young or an experienced player, we need to behave because in the end, we need to defend our badge and to play for our club.
“[...] If we want to win and to match the expectation at Chelsea, we need to behave different. Behaving different means to focus, to concentrate, to be more aggressive, not to hide, try to always ask for the ball, to play in possession. Okay, we create [a lot of] chances to score but in other areas of the game we need to be strong.
“If you want to win games, it’s not only to play well with the ball. We cannot be an exhibition team to enjoy. That is why I was upset and disappointed after the Burnley game, because of course we tried to play, create chances, but after we need to run because we are at Chelsea. We need to chase the Burnley players like the Manchester United players or like the Real Madrid players because we still didn’t get nothing as a group of players, coaching staff here at Chelsea.”
Of course, the real trick, in any setting, is turning theory into reality. And unfortunately, that’s not only the most important part, but the hardest part of all this. Achieving success is far from guaranteed, even if all the right pieces are in place in theory. (And making sure you do actually have the right pieces is an entirely different challenge altogether.)
The one thing you learn after years and years of listening to such mumbo-jumbo is that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to success. What works for one may not work for the other. And often, unfortunately, the only way to truly find out is to try.
So let’s try again.
“[We’re] talking about potential to be an amazing player, when we are talking about young players [but] they need to realise they need to improve so quick. There’s no time to improve in one or two years because the demand is so high from the Premier League and from the club.
“[We] talk about body language, energy, the capacity to talk about the pressure and to perform better. We need to step up because if not we can find excuses but in the end we need to perform tomorrow and be the same guys on the pitch.”
-Mauricio Pochettino; source: Football.London
Go Team!
As with any such concepts, it’s a somewhat abstract idea that sounds great on paper and in presentations and in meetings — consultants love it! — but is hard to define in actual workflows and everyday application. That said, the idea itself is not without merit, and it’s one that can apply to any job where the quality of work produced is just as important as the amount of work completed.
And this idea, despite its name, isn’t just about mindset, but is also about the necessary actions and behaviors that go along with it. These may be your own actions, but also the actions of your coworkers, peers, teammates. Quality is everyone’s responsibility. Put that on a coffee mug. You are responsible for producing the highest quality work that you can produce, and also that your team can produce, which meets or exceeds customer expectations and requirements.
What’s that got to with Chelsea?
Well, since our new CEO made it fairly clear that fans are just customers at the end of the day, perhaps we can hope that our expectations will be actually met one day — maybe even exceeded? — if this current group can (eventually) adopt some sort of quality mindset. We might even have a name for it already: winning mentality.
I’m not sure what Mauricio Pochettino might call it, but it seems like he understands its principles just the same.
“We are Chelsea but we need to behave like Chelsea. If we want to belong to a big club, it’s not an excuse to be young or an experienced player, we need to behave because in the end, we need to defend our badge and to play for our club.
“[...] If we want to win and to match the expectation at Chelsea, we need to behave different. Behaving different means to focus, to concentrate, to be more aggressive, not to hide, try to always ask for the ball, to play in possession. Okay, we create [a lot of] chances to score but in other areas of the game we need to be strong.
“If you want to win games, it’s not only to play well with the ball. We cannot be an exhibition team to enjoy. That is why I was upset and disappointed after the Burnley game, because of course we tried to play, create chances, but after we need to run because we are at Chelsea. We need to chase the Burnley players like the Manchester United players or like the Real Madrid players because we still didn’t get nothing as a group of players, coaching staff here at Chelsea.”
Of course, the real trick, in any setting, is turning theory into reality. And unfortunately, that’s not only the most important part, but the hardest part of all this. Achieving success is far from guaranteed, even if all the right pieces are in place in theory. (And making sure you do actually have the right pieces is an entirely different challenge altogether.)
The one thing you learn after years and years of listening to such mumbo-jumbo is that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to success. What works for one may not work for the other. And often, unfortunately, the only way to truly find out is to try.
So let’s try again.
“[We’re] talking about potential to be an amazing player, when we are talking about young players [but] they need to realise they need to improve so quick. There’s no time to improve in one or two years because the demand is so high from the Premier League and from the club.
“[We] talk about body language, energy, the capacity to talk about the pressure and to perform better. We need to step up because if not we can find excuses but in the end we need to perform tomorrow and be the same guys on the pitch.”
-Mauricio Pochettino; source: Football.London
Go Team!