Management lessons from Euro 2004 - Part 6

Germany-Czech Republic = 1:2
I am very tired today, since I watched the game Germany-Czech Republic last night - so please excuse if I don't make too much sense today.

I have to repeat that while the Germans played great football, they again wasted too many chances. Talk about operational efficiency, and product failure. But the Czech did come again, from behind, like turnaround specialists. You need players and employees who can shine through change - when everything falls apart and someone is needed to take the lead, assemble the army and lead through the change. A CEO is a great first help, of course, like Lou Gerstner showed in his turnaround of IBM, 10 years back. The blue chip company was on the edge of being done, break them up into pieces and have standalong units - Lou Gerstner kept it, changed the focus on the customer and changed the culture dramatically. While IBM doesn't grow double-digit, to be a great company, it sure is a strong company, and an entirely different animal in the current stages.

So let's see, where the Czechs end up in the end. May be they go far?