Think you have the best team in the world? Well, that doesn’t matter if you can’t help them get to the goal. 

That’s according to a study co-authored by Jeremy Beus, a Washington State University professor in the Carson College of Business. By using data from the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cups, Beus and fellow co-author Erik Taylor of East Carolina University found that team initiative alone had no direct relationship with team performance. Rather, teams performed best when individual initiative was paired with strong coordination and communication. 

“For an individual, showing initiative is almost universally a good thing,” Beus said in a release. “But in an interdependent team environment, if everyone decides to go above and beyond without communicating, you can end up with people duplicating efforts, leaving other areas exposed, or working against each other without even realizing it.” 

Beus and Taylor came to their conclusions by analyzing GPS-generated heat maps from matches, showing how players moved throughout a game. Initiative was measured by how much players moved beyond their expected coverage area on the field. The analysis excluded goalkeepers and adjusted the data within each position, so comparisons were made among players with similar responsibilities. 

They found that teams with players with higher levels of initiative were no more likely to win. Rather, coordination – measured through the frequency and success of passes between players – was the critical factor. 

“It’s about creating a culture of communication,” he said, “where the leader sets the example and makes clear that going the extra mile is great – as long as everyone knows about it.”