The FIFA World Cup final is on Saturday. Argentina will probably play France. Despite Group F’s success (two teams in the semi-finals!), do you know what team has not been playing futbol for a few weeks? Canada. The Kings of CONCACAF finished the tournament with no wins and two goals. To say the least, the Canucks underperformed on soccer’s greatest stage. From my point of view, anyway. Here are three lessons about managing expectations from Canada’s World Cup exit.
Be realistic
After three decades of languishing in the wilderness of international soccer, Canada made its return to the World Cup after defeating the likes of Mexico and the United States in CONCACAF’s qualifying tournament. The team entered the much-maligned nation of Qatar with above average expectations, with the term “dark horse” being tossed around by pundits and fans alike.
Things did not go well for the Canucks (or les rouges). Realistic expectations were for the diverse and rampaging Canadian squad with a handful of rising stars to give their opponents memorable matches and, at best, steal a win en route to a respectable third or fourth place finish in their group.
Gravitating towards podcasts, articles, and conversations that confirmed my optimistic hopes for Canada, I achieved a pretty darn spectacular misalignment of expectations with what was possible. After all, Roger Bennett’s prediction that Canada would take second in the group validated my outsized belief in the team.
This is a normal thing (especially for hopeful sports fans!).
From timing school drop-offs to building an overzealous project plan, people set unrealistic expectations all the time. By removing a task or two from a morning routine to save time, asking for feedback from a risk-averse, super-critical-thinker, or hoping Canada can just score their first goal at a World Cup, we can adjust our expectations to be more realistic every day.
Mitigate bias
People tell me that I have a bias for optimism. I believe them because I run a website about potential and write articles like this one about awesome things. I also believed Canada would finish second in Group F. Consequently, I search for data and points of view that capture the art of possibility, as opposed to ask, “how will this go wrong?”
Luckily, we are surrounded by communities of folks with very different points of view.
For example, my colleague Taunya mitigated my bias for Canadian soccer optimism by kindly (and realistically) hoping that “they get one goal”. They got two! Greg, a friend and co-coach of our boys’ soccer team (and a very knowledgeable soccer fan), noted that “Canada is not as technically sound as Belgium or Croatia” and that “Morocco plays like us, but they’re just better at it.” These were helpful points of view for me to consider as I mitigated my bias for optimistic soccer watching.
A former colleague and current friend, Lisa, always reminded me that “we can change the scope of the project if we sacrifice the quality, increase the budget, or extend the timeline – pick one.” Whenever I find myself assuming that a project or piece of work might unfold along a happy path, I use the bias-mitigation tactic of taking the point of view of someone who sees the world differently. This practice raises awareness and often shifts my perspective in terms of managing expectations.
Under promise (and over deliver)
My colleague, Aaron, did not use phrases like “now we’re going to f*ck Croatia!” to set expectations for Canada’s potential-bounce-back-performance against the tournament’s would-be-semi-finalists from Croatia. Instead, Aaron used phrases like “I hope we score our first goal” and “John, let’s just hope the boys don’t embarrass themselves.” These expectations, in hindsight, were realistic.
In fact, knowing what we know now, Canada probably over-delivered on the “just don’t embarrass us!” expectations. We were outplayed Belgium and were unlucky to lose that match and, in hindsight, were outclassed by two of the World Cup’s eventual semi-finalists. We even scored a banger-of-a-goal that captured a glimpse into the future of Canada’s emerging squad.
Whether we are launching new products or trying a new dish for dinner, it is helpful to manage your stakeholder’s expectations so that, ideally, they are both surprised and delighted by the experience. For example, when I discuss the change management plan for a new talent management system with senior leaders, I am consistent with my expectation management that a shiny new platform will not magically make people love setting learning and performance goals or will inspire managers to have even better year end conversations with peers and employees. Such things require behaviour change, building new habits, and a culture that enables feedback in the moment because it is safe, candid, and fueled by learning.
For the record, when my youngest son and I tested “John Connor’s Super-Cheesy Mac and Cheese with Triple the Cheese and Extra Cheese with More Cheese on Top” last week we are absolutely under-promising and over-delivering. It was cheesy. But, like, more than you’d expect because we were managing expectations effectively.