Résumé du livre Game Plans for success

Résumé du livre Game Plans for success : Winning strategies for
business and life from 10 top NFL head coaches
Pendant mon stage doctoral I à Sherbrooke au cours de l’été, mon superviseur Martin Roy m’a
proposé bon nombre de livres à lire. Un de ces livres Game Plans for success : Winning
strategies for business and life from 10 top NFL head coaches (Sheehy, 1995) rapportent les
philosophies et stratégies de gestion de 10 entraineurs-chef de la NFL, dont Bill Walsh, Chuck
Noll, Mike Ditka, pour ne nommer que ceux-là pour le moment.
Somme toute une lecture qui se fait bien et qui est facilement transférable dans sa pratique
quotidienne. Notons que des thèmes comme la nécessité d’établir des standards de performance
élevés, la nécessité d’effectuer une bonne préparation, le travail, la communication,
l’enseignement et l’individualisation sont rapportés comme essentiel par plus d’un entraineur.
Bien que l’ouvrage date de 1995, je juge que les conclusions que l’on peut en tirer sont encore
très utiles aujourd’hui. Voici brièvement quelques extraits qui ont marqué ma lecture :
! «I still think the most important aspects of coaching are credibility, trust and
communication.» - Marty Schottenheimer
! «I contend that if you have a good organization and take care of the basics, a team can be
in that playoff group almost every year. […] Success really comes with doing the little
things right day after day.» - Marty Schottenheimer
! «Winning on a consistent basis, whether in football or in business, requires planning and
organization.» - Marty Schottenheimer
! «The will to win is meaning less without the will to prepare. […] The game may be
played on Sunday, but it is won on the practice field during the week; in the meeting
rooms, where coaches and players prepare the game plan; and in the weight room, where
the best players do a few extra repetitions.» - Joe Gibbs
! «As a head coach or manager, you must keep in mind that not everyone learns the same
way. What may reach one player may not reach another. So you can’t teach one way
and expect everyone to learn at the same rate. It won’t happen.» - Joe Gibbs
! «I just felt the basics, done well, are what win football games. I still believe that. And that
belief also applies to other areas of life.» - Mike Ditka
! «Winning stems from commitment, and commitment begins with attitude.» - Dennis
Green
! «These are the three D’s : Desire, dedication and determination. Desire is the essence of
learning. […] Dedication is the price you have to pay to get what you want. […]
Determination is what keeps us there.» - Dennis Green
! «As a football coach, you must learn to adapt to your personnel. […] you have to work
with what you have and build a system that fits the personnel.» - Bud Grant
! «By striving to be the best, even if you don’t quite make it, you make yourself better. You
come closer to fulfilling your potential, which should be the goal of each individual.» Bud Grant
! «Winning begins with a winning work ethic.» - Norv Turner
! «Add by subtracting. […] it is much easier and smarter to start with the basics and add
dimensions as you go along than it is to start with a megaplan and hope your workforce
can grow into it.» - Norv Turner
! «In football and in business, preparation precedes performance.» - Bill Walsh
! «You cannot be the best without first aspiring to be the best.» - Chuck Noll
! «In football – and this distinction applies in business as well – there is the "what to do"
and the "how to do it". The first part is the plan, what you have on paper or in your head.
The second part is the application : how your idea actually works on the field.» - Chuck
Noll
! «In football you win games with good preparation and good execution.» - Chuck Noll
! «Be aware of what going on around you. Overlook the things that don’t matter. Work
towards getting better every day.» - Chuck Noll
Référence : Sheehy, B. (Ed.). (1995). Game Plans for success  : Winning strategies for business
and life from 10 top NFL head coaches. Little, Brown and Company.