Perhaps the most important lesson that all teams can learn from the just concluded Cricket World Cup is that a Plan B is very important. Our very own Indian team lost because it wasn’t sure of an alternate plan. It relied heavily on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for big runs and left the middle order to do only the finishing job. The Indian team just did not have a reliable middle order, which could bring stability in case of a top order collapse. It was this very weakness that was completely exposed in the semi-final against New Zealand.
Just as in cricket, Plan B in very much required in business as well. A number of restaurants in Goa have started focusing more on the locals as the number of tourists has come down. Until few years ago, these restaurants used to focus mostly on tourists.
Some restaurants, which were dominated by foreign tourists earlier, have started focusing on Indian tourists. Such restaurants have not suffered much due to decline in the number of foreign tourists in the State.
There are numerous examples of great teams, whether in sports or in business, not doing well because they did not have an alternate plan. Consider New Zealand’s cricket team again. They always relied on their captain Kane Williamson to score big runs. When he got out for just 30 against England, the Kiwis were limited to a score of 241. If Williamson had played ten more overs, his team would have easily scored 20 or 30 more runs, which would have definitely put more pressure on England.
Even while bowling, the Kiwis depended too much on climate. Their swing bowlers could move the ball only when it was cloudy. They started getting hammered by Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler the moment the sun was out.
The situation with the tourism industry in Goa is peculiar, precisely due to lack of a Plan B. If Russian and British tourists don’t visit Goa, neither the government nor the businessmen know how to attract tourists from other countries.
Knowing that they were depending too much on only two countries for foreign arrivals; shouldn’t the tourism industry have thought of an alternate strategy much earlier?
At times, too much self-confidence also prevents teams from thinking of another plan. The Indian team was just too sure of Rohit’s and Virat’s prowess to win them matches. Such over confidence, or rather arrogance, is often the undoing of a team.
Similarly, even the tourism industry was just too relaxed with the tried and tested formula of selling sun, sand and alcohol to tourists. Clearly, there are lessons to learn from the World Cup. The sooner we wake up to these realities, the better it will be.
