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I was linesman at a rugby match today. Under 13s but a quality game. With five minutes to go one team’s fly-half decided to take a quick 22 drop out to the winger who caught the ball, beat a number of tackles and scored under the post with an Ashtonesque spread-eagle dive.
Every boy, parent and coach (on both sides) had been delighted by this brilliant expression of teamwork and talent but the ref disallowed the try because he hadn’t given permission for the kick to be taken while he wasn’t watching.
The ref’s a mate and a good guy. I’m not mentioning the team or match as I don’t want to do him a disservice. But I can’t help thinking that there are a load of people driving home from this game for whom rugby is the poorer for that decision.
As the linesman, I felt bound to back my ref but I feel diminished in doing so.
You see a lot of this, whatever the sport – (and in business for that matter), the expression of individual talent is suppressed for what is considered the wider good of the team.
This is the cult of process – no doubt it would be sponsored by most consultancies and considered appropriate in most legal practices. I am sure that auditors would approve and it would probably be given a kitemark by the British Standards Institute.
The trouble with this kind of governance is that it is soooo boring!
You want that kind of governance? Well don’t expect anyone to engage with your product.
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The BIS Standards is a statutory body set up under the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986. The Bureau is a body corporate and responsible for formulating National Standards.