Drugs Are Bad Mackay?
Moderator
- May 24, 2006
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Present: Rob Chapman, Andrew Fagan, Mark Ricciuto and Ian Shuttleworth
Fagan: Gentlemen… I want to talk strategic planning. Going through this on-field rebuild at the moment it feels like we’re on the ground floor. The start of something… it might be a good time to release a new strategic plan. Reassure our members that we have a clear path mapping out the road ahead. Give the fans something they can embrace and get excited about.
Chapman: Sounds like a good idea.
Ricciuto: The timing is perfect. Take everyone’s focus off the ladder.
Chapman: We did have one of those once.
Fagan: A strategic plan? I’ve never seen it.
Chapman: Well we definitely had one. Pretty sure it finishes this year too so that’s a double-tick on timing, Andrew.
Fagan: Was it ever released publicly?
Chapman: No, it was just an internal document.
Shuttleworth: Can you email me a copy? I’ve never seen it either.
Chapman: That might be tricky. I’m not sure there is an electronic copy. It all happened in that 2012/13 period… we deleted a whole bunch of documents around that time. I think it got zapped in the cull.
Shuttleworth: Do we have a hard copy?
Chapman: I thought I had one. It was propping up the wonky leg of the coffee table in my office but I think the cleaner threw it out.
Fagan: How come you never showed it to me? I’m supposed to be steering the ship after all.
Shuttleworth: It does seem strange that no one’s got a copy and the CEO’s never seen it.
Chapman: Well no one actually refers back to these things on a daily basis. It’s all common sense stuff anyway. Trying to win games, get members, get sponsors, improve facilities… I mean, what else would you be doing all day?
Fagan: Well it’s good practice for organisations to have a strategic plan which is why I think the time is right for a new one. Attack this new decade with some renewed focus and ambition.
Ricciuto: I remember seeing the old one around the time I came on board. There was a copy in the men’s room. Was titled “2014-2020: Always Contending” or something.
Fagan: 2014-2020… so a six year plan?
Chapman: Everyone else does five year plans. Ours was one year longer, therefore better with even more vision.
Ricciuto: 10% longer.
Fagan: That's 20% longer.
Ricciuto: What?
Fagan: Six years instead of five is 20% longer.
Chapman: You're right... I guess Collective Minds was spot on about us using only 10% of our brains haha!
Ricciuto: Well that's even better.
Shuttleworth: Also it's seven years.
Ricciuto: 2014-2020 is six years. I can do the maths on that one, Shutts!
Shuttleworth: Count them.
Ricciuto: (on fingers) 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20... what the…? How does that work?
Chapman: A seven year plan. We really were ahead of the game.
Fagan: Do you remember what was in it? Might be good for Shutts to release a recap and tick off all of our achievements before we launch the new one. Remind people that despite this season we’ve actually been rolling along ok mostly. I mean, what we’ve achieved in women’s football alone is the envy of every other club in the competition and something of which we can be rightfully proud.
Chapman: I’m pretty sure that wasn’t in there. We didn’t even know women's football was a thing when we wrote it. That's an achievement above and beyond the strategic plan. Also shows how useless these documents are really. Women’s football lobs on your doorstep and you react. Covid the same. You can’t plan for these things one year out let alone five.
Shuttleworth: Sorry… does this 2014 strategic plan actually exist?
Chapman: Oh, it exists alright.
Shuttleworth: Just no one knows where it is or exactly what was in it and it’s useless anyway because the landscape is always changing… plus our crowning achievement is something that wasn’t even in it.
Chapman: That's correct. But we definitely had one. And we achieved everything in it and then some.
Fagan: Would the AFL have a copy?
Chapman: Probably but it's too embarrassing to ask.
Ricciuto: “Make a grand final” - I remember that was in there so we can tick that one off.
Chapman: (nodding) Yep.
Shuttleworth: Not “win a premiership?”
Chapman: No, it was quite specific.
Ricciuto: The name Always Contending reminds me… I think there was something in there about making finals in the majority of seasons.
Chapman: That’s right. 2015, 2016, 2017… so three out of five years. A lot of clubs would be envious of what we’ve achieved. I mean… when did the Bombers last win a final? So there’s another tick.
Shuttleworth: Three out of seven years.
Ricciuto: I’m still pretty sure it’s six, Shutts. Reckon you’re playing funny buggers with the numbers there. Don’t know how you got seven.
Chapman: “Investigate a move to a city training base.” The wheels are certainly turning there.
Shuttleworth: Not secure a move? Is there a deal in place with council? When will the first brick be laid?
Chapman: That's at least two plans away, Shutts. No, I distinctly remember the word “investigate.” Even then we knew how complicated these things can be. A lot of these documents are airy-fairy. Ours was grounded in reality.
Fagan: I guess where Shutts is coming from is that he’s looking for clear, measurable wins that he can use to demonstrate our achievements.
Ricciuto: We achieved it. We have investigated.
Chapman: It will happen. It’s just a matter of time.
Fagan: Hmmm… I just know that these land deals sometimes get a bit murky.
Chapman: “Diversify potential revenue streams.” That was in there.
Shuttleworth: Ok… that’s good. Did it have any amounts attached? Targets for the percentage of overall revenue?
Chapman: No, it just said diversify potential revenue streams.
Ricciuto: Baseball, e-sports, basketball... that's a big tick
Shuttleworth: Are those programs bringing in revenue? The accounts in the annual report are a bit vague.
Fagan: Those account details are deliberately vague. If we’re creating a competitive advantage through these programs we don’t want the opposition finding out.
Shuttleworth: Are we?
Fagan: Well, it’s impossible to tell. A lot of the income and costs just go into a big pot.
Shuttleworth: How can I dress them up as wins without saying that they’ve increased revenue? Let alone profit.
Chapman: Shutts, you’re looking at this from the wrong angle. The strategic plan wasn’t a dollars and cents document. It wasn’t for the accounts department. It looks at broader, longer term philosophies. We’ve diversified. We can’t just rely on membership and sponsorship dollars forever.
Fagan: Whether or not they actually make us money… it could be years before we know. Diversification is the key word and that’s what you should be hitting. That was our aim and that’s what we’ve delivered.
Ricciuto: It’s certainly an impressive sounding word.
Chapman: Sponsorship would have been in there and that’s gone up. Membership too. Tick. Tick.
Shuttleworth: Membership revenue or membership numbers?
Chapman: Makes no difference. They’re both up aren’t they, Fages?
Fagan: Yep.
Shuttleworth: At the time did it reference 11 game members or did it take into account that the definition of a member might be changed or watered down?
Chapman: …Membership revenue is definitely up.
Shuttleworth: More than inflation? And how does our increase in membership revenue compare to other clubs over the same time period?
Chapman: Umm… I'd have to check that.
Shuttleworth: (nods) …Okay
Chapman: Ok what?
Shuttleworth: Can you check that with accounts?
Chapman: Check what?
Shuttleworth: Whether membership revenue has gone up more than inflation and how we compare to other clubs.
Chapman: Oh... That's really just something you say. I’ll look into it.
Shuttleworth: Will you?
Chapman: Shutts…why are you going on about this? The number has gone up. That's the bottom line. There was nothing about adjusting for inflation in the strategic plan. Don’t get bogged down with the details. Grand final, tick. Sponsorship, tick. Membership, tick. Explore city training base, tick. Women’s football, tick.
Ricciuto: Website clicks. Triggy put that one in there.
Chapman: Another tick. One small cross because we’re having a rough patch at the moment but overall another glorious chapter in the club’s history. Just our third grand final in 30 years! Two women’s premierships. Adelaide Oval. The list goes on.
Fagan: So Shutts, does that sound ok? Go hard on the women’s football angle and the uplift from the Adelaide Oval move. They don't know women's football wasn't even in it. That's one of the beauties of not publishing it at the time I guess. But the thing to get excited about is that a new strategic plan is coming soon.
Shuttleworth: Are we going to publish the new one?
Chapman: Why do the public need to see the document? Do they honestly think that everyone down at the club isn't working as hard as they can? That we don’t all want the club to succeed?
Shuttleworth: It's more a question of accountability.
Chapman: The staff are accountable to management. Management is accountable to the board. The board is accountable to the AFL. The end. The fans aren't in it. That's what they don't understand. There's no reason for them to be involved at this level or to be going over our planning documents with a fine tooth comb, searching for things to complain about.
Ricciuto: It’s none of their business.
Chapman: This is the same group who drove out Neil Craig.
Ricciuto: And Triggy.
Chapman: Troublemakers. Who loves the club more than us?
Ricciuto: (Wipes away tear) he was a great man, Neil Craig. Even if he did say Goody was our best ever captain.
Chapman: Part of the club died when he left.
Ricciuto: I like to think that a number of his philosophies and principles live on. I know I try to push them in every football strategy meeting we have.
Chapman: The fans’ role is to support the club. Not to scrutinise every single move we make.
Fagan: They'll want something.
Chapman: Pack of vultures.
Fagan: We could get a past player to endorse the new strategic plan maybe? Win them over that way. Andrew McLeod could present it?
Ricciuto: That might be tricky.
Fagan: Tyson Edwards?
Chapman: Who else is there?
Fagan: You know these guys better than me.
Ricciuto: Mods?
Chapman: Bullseye.
Shuttleworth: Good call. He could say we're moving the team to Albuquerque and the fans would still lap it up. What are you going to call this one? Fly As One has done its dash as a brand I think.
Chapman: Could we base something around the “rebuilding” word?
Fagan: Rebuild…? Refresh…? Renew…?
Chapman: All of them?
Fagan: The three Rs.
Chapman: Rebuild our team.
Fagan: Refresh our facilities.
Ricciuto: Renew your membership… otherwise you can go and support someone else.
Chapman: Perfect.
Fagan: Gentlemen… I want to talk strategic planning. Going through this on-field rebuild at the moment it feels like we’re on the ground floor. The start of something… it might be a good time to release a new strategic plan. Reassure our members that we have a clear path mapping out the road ahead. Give the fans something they can embrace and get excited about.
Chapman: Sounds like a good idea.
Ricciuto: The timing is perfect. Take everyone’s focus off the ladder.
Chapman: We did have one of those once.
Fagan: A strategic plan? I’ve never seen it.
Chapman: Well we definitely had one. Pretty sure it finishes this year too so that’s a double-tick on timing, Andrew.
Fagan: Was it ever released publicly?
Chapman: No, it was just an internal document.
Shuttleworth: Can you email me a copy? I’ve never seen it either.
Chapman: That might be tricky. I’m not sure there is an electronic copy. It all happened in that 2012/13 period… we deleted a whole bunch of documents around that time. I think it got zapped in the cull.
Shuttleworth: Do we have a hard copy?
Chapman: I thought I had one. It was propping up the wonky leg of the coffee table in my office but I think the cleaner threw it out.
Fagan: How come you never showed it to me? I’m supposed to be steering the ship after all.
Shuttleworth: It does seem strange that no one’s got a copy and the CEO’s never seen it.
Chapman: Well no one actually refers back to these things on a daily basis. It’s all common sense stuff anyway. Trying to win games, get members, get sponsors, improve facilities… I mean, what else would you be doing all day?
Fagan: Well it’s good practice for organisations to have a strategic plan which is why I think the time is right for a new one. Attack this new decade with some renewed focus and ambition.
Ricciuto: I remember seeing the old one around the time I came on board. There was a copy in the men’s room. Was titled “2014-2020: Always Contending” or something.
Fagan: 2014-2020… so a six year plan?
Chapman: Everyone else does five year plans. Ours was one year longer, therefore better with even more vision.
Ricciuto: 10% longer.
Fagan: That's 20% longer.
Ricciuto: What?
Fagan: Six years instead of five is 20% longer.
Chapman: You're right... I guess Collective Minds was spot on about us using only 10% of our brains haha!
Ricciuto: Well that's even better.
Shuttleworth: Also it's seven years.
Ricciuto: 2014-2020 is six years. I can do the maths on that one, Shutts!
Shuttleworth: Count them.
Ricciuto: (on fingers) 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20... what the…? How does that work?
Chapman: A seven year plan. We really were ahead of the game.
Fagan: Do you remember what was in it? Might be good for Shutts to release a recap and tick off all of our achievements before we launch the new one. Remind people that despite this season we’ve actually been rolling along ok mostly. I mean, what we’ve achieved in women’s football alone is the envy of every other club in the competition and something of which we can be rightfully proud.
Chapman: I’m pretty sure that wasn’t in there. We didn’t even know women's football was a thing when we wrote it. That's an achievement above and beyond the strategic plan. Also shows how useless these documents are really. Women’s football lobs on your doorstep and you react. Covid the same. You can’t plan for these things one year out let alone five.
Shuttleworth: Sorry… does this 2014 strategic plan actually exist?
Chapman: Oh, it exists alright.
Shuttleworth: Just no one knows where it is or exactly what was in it and it’s useless anyway because the landscape is always changing… plus our crowning achievement is something that wasn’t even in it.
Chapman: That's correct. But we definitely had one. And we achieved everything in it and then some.
Fagan: Would the AFL have a copy?
Chapman: Probably but it's too embarrassing to ask.
Ricciuto: “Make a grand final” - I remember that was in there so we can tick that one off.
Chapman: (nodding) Yep.
Shuttleworth: Not “win a premiership?”
Chapman: No, it was quite specific.
Ricciuto: The name Always Contending reminds me… I think there was something in there about making finals in the majority of seasons.
Chapman: That’s right. 2015, 2016, 2017… so three out of five years. A lot of clubs would be envious of what we’ve achieved. I mean… when did the Bombers last win a final? So there’s another tick.
Shuttleworth: Three out of seven years.
Ricciuto: I’m still pretty sure it’s six, Shutts. Reckon you’re playing funny buggers with the numbers there. Don’t know how you got seven.
Chapman: “Investigate a move to a city training base.” The wheels are certainly turning there.
Shuttleworth: Not secure a move? Is there a deal in place with council? When will the first brick be laid?
Chapman: That's at least two plans away, Shutts. No, I distinctly remember the word “investigate.” Even then we knew how complicated these things can be. A lot of these documents are airy-fairy. Ours was grounded in reality.
Fagan: I guess where Shutts is coming from is that he’s looking for clear, measurable wins that he can use to demonstrate our achievements.
Ricciuto: We achieved it. We have investigated.
Chapman: It will happen. It’s just a matter of time.
Fagan: Hmmm… I just know that these land deals sometimes get a bit murky.
Chapman: “Diversify potential revenue streams.” That was in there.
Shuttleworth: Ok… that’s good. Did it have any amounts attached? Targets for the percentage of overall revenue?
Chapman: No, it just said diversify potential revenue streams.
Ricciuto: Baseball, e-sports, basketball... that's a big tick
Shuttleworth: Are those programs bringing in revenue? The accounts in the annual report are a bit vague.
Fagan: Those account details are deliberately vague. If we’re creating a competitive advantage through these programs we don’t want the opposition finding out.
Shuttleworth: Are we?
Fagan: Well, it’s impossible to tell. A lot of the income and costs just go into a big pot.
Shuttleworth: How can I dress them up as wins without saying that they’ve increased revenue? Let alone profit.
Chapman: Shutts, you’re looking at this from the wrong angle. The strategic plan wasn’t a dollars and cents document. It wasn’t for the accounts department. It looks at broader, longer term philosophies. We’ve diversified. We can’t just rely on membership and sponsorship dollars forever.
Fagan: Whether or not they actually make us money… it could be years before we know. Diversification is the key word and that’s what you should be hitting. That was our aim and that’s what we’ve delivered.
Ricciuto: It’s certainly an impressive sounding word.
Chapman: Sponsorship would have been in there and that’s gone up. Membership too. Tick. Tick.
Shuttleworth: Membership revenue or membership numbers?
Chapman: Makes no difference. They’re both up aren’t they, Fages?
Fagan: Yep.
Shuttleworth: At the time did it reference 11 game members or did it take into account that the definition of a member might be changed or watered down?
Chapman: …Membership revenue is definitely up.
Shuttleworth: More than inflation? And how does our increase in membership revenue compare to other clubs over the same time period?
Chapman: Umm… I'd have to check that.
Shuttleworth: (nods) …Okay
Chapman: Ok what?
Shuttleworth: Can you check that with accounts?
Chapman: Check what?
Shuttleworth: Whether membership revenue has gone up more than inflation and how we compare to other clubs.
Chapman: Oh... That's really just something you say. I’ll look into it.
Shuttleworth: Will you?
Chapman: Shutts…why are you going on about this? The number has gone up. That's the bottom line. There was nothing about adjusting for inflation in the strategic plan. Don’t get bogged down with the details. Grand final, tick. Sponsorship, tick. Membership, tick. Explore city training base, tick. Women’s football, tick.
Ricciuto: Website clicks. Triggy put that one in there.
Chapman: Another tick. One small cross because we’re having a rough patch at the moment but overall another glorious chapter in the club’s history. Just our third grand final in 30 years! Two women’s premierships. Adelaide Oval. The list goes on.
Fagan: So Shutts, does that sound ok? Go hard on the women’s football angle and the uplift from the Adelaide Oval move. They don't know women's football wasn't even in it. That's one of the beauties of not publishing it at the time I guess. But the thing to get excited about is that a new strategic plan is coming soon.
Shuttleworth: Are we going to publish the new one?
Chapman: Why do the public need to see the document? Do they honestly think that everyone down at the club isn't working as hard as they can? That we don’t all want the club to succeed?
Shuttleworth: It's more a question of accountability.
Chapman: The staff are accountable to management. Management is accountable to the board. The board is accountable to the AFL. The end. The fans aren't in it. That's what they don't understand. There's no reason for them to be involved at this level or to be going over our planning documents with a fine tooth comb, searching for things to complain about.
Ricciuto: It’s none of their business.
Chapman: This is the same group who drove out Neil Craig.
Ricciuto: And Triggy.
Chapman: Troublemakers. Who loves the club more than us?
Ricciuto: (Wipes away tear) he was a great man, Neil Craig. Even if he did say Goody was our best ever captain.
Chapman: Part of the club died when he left.
Ricciuto: I like to think that a number of his philosophies and principles live on. I know I try to push them in every football strategy meeting we have.
Chapman: The fans’ role is to support the club. Not to scrutinise every single move we make.
Fagan: They'll want something.
Chapman: Pack of vultures.
Fagan: We could get a past player to endorse the new strategic plan maybe? Win them over that way. Andrew McLeod could present it?
Ricciuto: That might be tricky.
Fagan: Tyson Edwards?
Chapman: Who else is there?
Fagan: You know these guys better than me.
Ricciuto: Mods?
Chapman: Bullseye.
Shuttleworth: Good call. He could say we're moving the team to Albuquerque and the fans would still lap it up. What are you going to call this one? Fly As One has done its dash as a brand I think.
Chapman: Could we base something around the “rebuilding” word?
Fagan: Rebuild…? Refresh…? Renew…?
Chapman: All of them?
Fagan: The three Rs.
Chapman: Rebuild our team.
Fagan: Refresh our facilities.
Ricciuto: Renew your membership… otherwise you can go and support someone else.
Chapman: Perfect.
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