How football methods can drive product success
Updated on:
August 2, 2024
You might think there is nothing less in common but I beg to differ; Product can learn a lot about how football managers achieve success, and there’s two individuals I want to focus on: Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancellotti.
I recently watched this video by The Athletic following the latter’s recent Champions League success which compared both managers and their styles of management. Even though Pep is considered the best manager in the world, making Manchester City a winning machine, Carlo has arguably overshadowed him by winning club football’s ultimate prize twice in 3 years.
Each has very contrasting styles, and the latter’s causes some surprise as his methods are now deemed more old fashioned. So why is that? And what can product teams learn from this?
For the past 10 years Pep Guardiola has established himself as the game’s best football manager. Starting at Barcelona and now Manchester City he has revolutionised how football has been played - advocating for strict system based football. This style of football involves setting players up in a system with all areas of the player’s game managed to thrive in the system. The players had roles, clear responsibilities and instructions for playing within the system.
The sum of all parts is considered greater than the individual talent, and being a world class player doesn’t mean you fit into the system. Zlatan Imbrahimovic and Yaya Toure can attest to that, and regardless of their individual quality, have found themselves surplus to requirements.
Pep has cemented his status by winning an impressive 80% of league titles he’s competed for, and this style of football is now the way most managers in the game set their teams up.
It doesn’t guarantee success - plenty of managers have adopted this style and failed, but there’s no doubt it’s the way most clubs now insist on playing.
Carlo Ancellotti is one of the elder statesmen of the game. Since the 90s he has managed some of the greatest teams across the best leagues in Europe (including the very best, Chelsea), and established himself as one of the game's great managers.
In contrast to Pep, Carlo has preferred to trust more in the talents of the players at his disposal rather than meticulously setting up a structure of play. He gives players the freedom to express themselves, and to not give too much instruction to them prior to a match.
“Our biggest strength is he finds a way to let a lot of boys play with freedom. We’re so off the cuff…. As a man he fills you with calmness and confidence. I caught him yawning and he said to go out and excite him.”
Jude Bellingham
The difference in outcome between this approach and Pep’s is surprisingly less-laden with silverware compared to his younger peer. Even though he has managed some of the biggest teams across Europe, he has only won 20% of league titles he has competed for. However, where Carlo Ancelotti shines is his record in European football’s top competition, The Champions League, where he has won it a record 5 times.
Fundamentally, Pep’s approach to creating a process that players stick to seems to generate the most consistent success. In each of his roles as manager of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City, he has secured a dominance of domestic competitions and won league and cup competitions at will. The players improve at being able to master their role, and the sum of all parts helps contribute to the team’s success.
As product people working in fast, agile environments, this kind of process can help teams function better as one, increasing collaboration and driving impact through slick, memorable ways of working. This approach shows us the benefit of familiarity in driving consistent success, and that teams who work at improving their collaboration will increase not only the individual performance, but the overall team’s output.
On the other hand, it’s worth understanding that a process can be restricting, and that spontaneity can unleash moments of delight that would otherwise be hard to achieve. You can apply this thinking to experimentation where thinking outside of the box (football pun not intended) can lead to individuals creating big opportunities without the shackles of a rigid process. This approach also feeds creativity which can be lacking from more established teams, and lead to individuals increasing their output and performance where they feel they are given more freedom to innovate. Yes, failure will happen often, but it only takes one success to lead to a new opportunity which drives large business impact.
So to conclude, while I believe it’s important that having a strong process can drive consistent success, it’s worth remembering that this can stifle creativity. As Carlo Ancelotti has shown the world: letting individuals express themselves will mean regular failure will happen, but when success does happen, its impact can be more memorable.