“The Surprising Connection Between Ted Lasso and the Culture Amp Values”

Ted Lasso fans are eagerly anticipating the release of Season 3 this week on March 15th, and in the meantime, some have taken the opportunity to re-watch Seasons 1 and 2 like myself. Simultaneously, it’s also been performance review season for many companies, prompting a reflection on how company values have been embodied by colleagues in the past 6 months, and how they could be exhibited even more. Some key questions I’ve been pondering include:

• examples of how colleagues have leaned into company values to drive impactful and sustainable performance
• how colleagues have impacted their team or organization in the last 6 months
• skills or behaviors colleagues have excelled at recently that they should continue to develop
• opportunities for colleagues to increase their impact by 10% in the coming 6 months.

With these questions in mind and while Rewatching Ted Lasso, I observed that the values depicted in the culture of AFC Richmond, the team coached by Ted Lasso and Coach Beard, align particularly well with Culture Amp’s company values. My brain was wired looking for them and they were all over the place!! Those values are:

• Have the courage to be vulnerable
• Learn faster through feedback
• Trusting people to own decisions
• Amplify others

Here’s what those values mean and what they look like in action with the AFC Richmond Greyhounds in just the first couple of episodes too!

Have the courage to be vulnerable

Growth requires vulnerability. Having the courage to be vulnerable at work is stepping outside of your comfort zone, expressing your ideas, trying new ways of doing things, taking chances, and being open to learning from our failures. Vulnerability builds trust and psychological safety. If one person lets down their mask, then we give permission for others to do so.

Say when you need help, make mistakes, don’t know something, or you’re off course
Ted has never coached soccer before and hardly knowing the rules.

“Heck you could fill two internets with what I don’t know about football.”

He owns it and seeks to understand it all including the lingo.

Be open to new ways, new ideas, and other POVs. Ask people how they’ve done things differently
Ted has a challenging dynamic with one of the players, Jamie Tartt. He seeks out to understand Jamie better by reaching out to his girlfriend of all people.

“I’m having a little trouble figuring out Jamie’s operating instructions and I was just seeing if you happened to have any advice. […] What would you say motivates him? I know he’s going to be a star, but I was hoping he’d warm up to the team building I’m trying to do here.”

He discovers Jamie responds well to positive reinforcement and is able to take a different approach.

Taking the time to get to know each other a little at the start of interactions, versus just jumping into business
Ted seeks to build strong bonds with the AFC Richmond staff including the owner, Rebecca Welton, who is not having it! She did only hire him to destroy the club’s success in spite of her ex-husband. Poor Ted aims to connect regardless.

“We can’t really be good partners unless we get to know each other right? Real simple and easy question — First concert, best concert?”

Learn faster through feedback

Once we build authentic relationships, we can then allow for meaningful feedback. Feedback helps us learn what we need to keep doing, or what we might need to do differently. Faster, though may be the most important word. Think about pro athletes. They don’t wait until after the season to watch their tape. They do it after every game, even during games and then put their learnings into action.

Seek and act on feedback, regularly — make smaller tweaks faster
The coaching staff for the Greyhounds create an old school suggestion box out of shoebox for the players to leave anonymous feedback.

“If the internet has taught us anything it’s that sometimes it’s easier to speak our minds anonymously. […] Anything got you hot and bothered, drop us a note.”

Sure, most of the players don’t take it serious and leave wildly inappropriate comments for the coaches, but one player does mention the water pressure in the shower being rubbish. The coaches are able to quickly take action on this feedback which leads to the players having slightly more confidence and trust in the coaching staff. This is just the beginning of the feedback journey for the team.

Trust people to own decisions

At Culture Amp, if we are going to learn faster through feedback, then we can trust people to own decisions. This means, employees can commit to making the decision, owning the implications or implementation to a reasonable degree, learning from it, and sharing the outcome and learnings. Waiting to consult everyone on a decision and then coming to a consensus slows the team down. By trusting others to own decisions, we then create empowerment.

Taking 100% responsibility — Accepting that something is someone else’s decision, or is theirs to own, and giving them space to do it without micromanaging.
There’s a bullying issue with Richmond team. One of the kit managers, Nathan Shelley, is being bullied by Jamie and some of the other team members. Ted knows if he is to interfere, it will only make things worse for Nate. When approached by the team captain, Roy Kent, Ted empowers Roy to have the hard team conversation with Jamie and to take care of the bullying issue.

Amplify others

Many have heard the expression “we are greater than the sum of our parts.” That’s the heart of this value. By intentionally being mindful of how we set others up for success, it creates a ripple across the organization that goes beyond any single individual. It’s what helps us to grow, drive performance, and move quickly and confidently together. Each of us holds knowledge or expertise that is critical to helping others do their job better (or to grow).

Share information/expertise and good ideas can come from anywhere
Upon arriving, Ted Lasso and Coach Beard meet Nate. When Ted asks him his name, he is shocked since no one has ever asked him that before. He always feels insignificant. Nate is touched by the fact that Ted remembers his name. Ted empowers Nate by regularly conversing with him during training sessions and even uses his advice against of the team’s opponents in an upcoming game.

In conclusion, there’s much to learn from the values depicted in the culture of AFC Richmond in Ted Lasso. Having the courage to be vulnerable, learning faster through feedback, trusting people to own decisions, and amplifying others are values that can have a positive impact on many organizations. By embodying these values at Culture Amp, we create a culture that fosters growth, collaboration, and success. As we eagerly await the release of Season 3 of Ted Lasso, let’s continue to learn from the Greyhounds and their coaches, and be inspired to create a better world of work.