By Gerry Gentile
In this four part series, the former chair of the CSA Working Group and the man who presented the CUSL Blueprint to Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, speaks out for an alternative vision for soccer in Canada. Gerry Gentile has co-founded 5 successful high tech businesses which have sold over $10 billion worth of products and services globally.
Myth 3 – A new plan with the same old structure is the solution to our problems
Executives who manage any of my business are not allowed to hire consultants without risking instant dismissal. They were all hired for those top management positions because of their leadership qualities, knowledge, capacity to get things done, and most importantly, their ability to articulate, create, communicate and execute a business plan.
If they need to hire outside consultants to create strategic plans, then they are the wrong people for the job. I always found it difficult to believe that consultants from outside an organization could create a plan which the employees would confidently embrace and execute as their own plan, and be willing to be held accountable for its results or failures.
The CSA Strategic Plan states that the report was created “with the support of a series of consultants”. The report reads with consultant-speak phrases and words such as — “leading Canada to victory and Canadians to a life-long passion for soccer”, “Wellness to World Cup”, “sustainable capacity, thriving business practices, vibrant organizational operations” and “flourishing relations and partnerships”.
It makes a person wonder if they are paid by the word or by the amount of total letters used per document.
The document, while a significant improvement from past reports, is clearly pandering to all levels of government, as well as club and district presidents who the CSA need to lobby for increases in fees and funding.
Why 203 “strategic actions” most of which have nothing to do with the ultimate goal of qualifying for the world cup?
We need a grand Vision with bold decisions and actions not found in the Strategic Plan!
All the CSA had to do, instead of hiring “a series of consultants” was to send one staff member to up-and coming soccer powerhouses such as Japan (who just beat Germany and Canada in the U17 Women’s World Cup) to find out what strategic activities they have implemented in the last few years to become such Soccer powerhouses, then see if the CSA could incorporate some of these same strategic activities into it’s Strategic Plan. Total cost would have been air fare, hotel reservation and food for one week ($10k). I wonder how much they paid the consultants…