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After reading Javier Palenque's first scathing USTA article on
LinkedIn I asked myself, who is this man? How can an outsider
be so critical of the world's biggest governing body of tennis?
Why is he taking up a fight looking like David vs. Goliath? After
meeting him on a sunny December day at a Miami Starbucks I've
come to realize he has the same chance of winning as David had
fighting that giant. I'll explain why towards the end of my article.
Privileged
upbringing
Javier Palenque grew up in privileged surroundings in Bolivia,
went to private school and played tennis at an exclusive Country
Club. Problem was, he absolutely didn't like those privileges.
Didn't like to live in a country with very rich and very poor
people and no opportunity for the average guy to break out. That's
the main reason he loves America, which he calls "the country
of change."
At age 17 he moved to the USA to pursue his studies at Boston
University where he received his MBA in Marketing and Entrepreneurship.
He remembers one key event when he became a US citizen. At the
swearing in ceremony the judge grabbed his hand and admonished
him to "… bring us all the good things from your country
and when you see something really bad in your new home country,
speak up!"
White Plains,
we have a problem!
Javier became an Investment and Real Estate Consultant in Florida.
Watching his son playing tennis and seeing what is going on here
in the tennis community around Miami, he thought he realized
a discrepancy between the numbers published by the USTA and reality.
Javier Palenque is a business
consultant who deals with data. A hard facts kind of a guy. He
helps businesses get better at what they're doing, grow, survive,
make necessary changes, be it a small business in the U.S. Midwest
or a good size organization in Dubai. He says he has a keen eye
for "…grasping a client's problems minutes after talking
to a few people at their office."
The situation, he claims, is
much worse than "they" want us to believe. According
to his articles, youth tennis is on the decline, attrition rates
are much higher than reported, league numbers are muddled by
using "registered players" and "unique players"
whenever convenient. He also alleges that tennis pro's overcharge
for lessons, most Parks in Miami show empty courts, and the Tennis
Industry Association publishes numbers that are vague at best
and can't be substantiated.
Numbers
don't lie
Javier has some choice words when it comes to the funds the USTA
makes available into the tennis community and the income of the
top 3 officers of that non-profit organization. "While the
USTA Foundation gets only 1% of the 2015 revenue of over $248
million, the director's compensation is 2% and other salaries
are 20%. How does Gordon Smith justify his $1.3 million a year
salary?"
 Graphic from the Javier
Palenque's 12/6/2017 LinkedIn article "USTA BOARD: PLEASE EXPLAIN!"
As far as the Florida section is concerned, Javier states, "Looking
at my section Florida, we need to look at the math. The USTA
gives Florida roughly $3 million, but the problem is that between
salaries, office expense and travel, my section spends 94% of
those funds received on nothing that will grow tennis. This effectively
means that for every dollar they get from the USTA national they
spend 94 cents, leaving between 1 and 6 cents for the kids."
His conclusion? "Nothing
will ever change unless people change - I'm calling on the USTA
Board and top management to resign immediately."
Back to
David and Goliath
After reading Bill Murphy Jr.'s article "3 Things People
Get Wrong About David vs. Goliath" in Inc. Magazine, it
became clear to me how similar the situation Javier Palenque
vs. USTA really is. I'm offering a look at Murphy's conclusions
and how they may be applied here.
Murphy writes, 'The next time
you hear about a David versus Goliath story, don't think of an
underdog. Think of a confident competitor who is more than happy
to be underestimated.' Quoting excerpts from Malcolm Gladwell,
he lists 3 reasons why betting on David would have been a good
investment back in the days.
1. Goliath
can't see. The 6'9"
Philistine warrior may have suffered from double vision and severe
nearsightedness because of his size, not uncommon in Biblical
times. "Goliath has to call out to David in order to fight
him: "Come to me that I might feed your flesh to the birds
of the heavens and the beasts of the field." Why? Perhaps
because he can't see him. Big competitors' perceived advantages
can often mask their even bigger disadvantages."
Is the USTA too big for its
own good? So close to tennis but all too removed from the players,
parents, and coaches? Are USTA management and board blinded by
their own numbers, designed to keep the machine humming?
2. Goliath
is powerless. The gigantic
warrior is "…outfitted head to toe in this glittering
bronze armor, and he's got a sword and he's got a javelin and
he's got his spear. He is absolutely terrifying. And he's so
terrifying that none of the Israelite soldiers want to fight
him. It's a death wish, right? There's no way they think they
can take him. On the other hand, David is a lowly shepherd boy--and
yet he's the only person willing to fight Goliath. He also refuses
to wear armor. Why? Because David is also apparently the only
person in the story who realizes that heavy armor weighs a warrior
down."
The heavy armor wearing down
the USTA is its size and its culture of inflexibility and decision-by-committee-thinking.
Management from the top down has brought more than one company
to its knees in the past. The companies that survived recent
recessions and technological challenges are the ones that can
adapt, empower their staff, and listen carefully to all voices
coming their way.
David
vs. Goliath image from americanbelievers.blogspot.com
3. David is
deadly. He "…goes
into battle with "only a sling." When we hear that
with modern ears, we might think of a child's toy--a slingshot.
However, that's not what David has at all. Instead, he's carrying
a sling, which is a simple but highly effective weapon. Armies
used it in battle, and shepherds like David used it to protect
their flocks from wild animals. This is an incredibly devastating
weapon. ... When David lines up ... he has every intention and
every expectation of being able to hit Goliath at his most vulnerable
spot between his eyes."
Javier Palenque has a similarly
effective weapon. The written word via the Internet. Simple,
cheap, devastating in its viral powers. Like David, he also has
every intention to hit the USTA at their most vulnerable spot.
Only that spot is not right between their eyes, it's the millions
of tennis players in this country. Be it USTA members, ALTA fans,
recreational league players, friends and foes of the governing
body of US tennis. Convincing those legions of "stakeholders"
to ask uncomfortable questions may well proof to be a very effective
way to affect change.
Murphy ends by asking us to take
a look at the story again. "The lesson isn't simply that
when a powerful competitor takes on a smaller one, the smaller
one might nevertheless win. Instead, great leaders understand
that the real keys to battle are sometimes obscured by our misconceptions.
Perceiving them correctly can amount to a Goliath-sized advantage."
I can fix
the USTA
Can Javier Palenque run the USTA? I don't know. Is he able to
identify major problems and suggest change? I think so. He's
on a very long and stony road, though. Full of landmines. My
own experience: The USTA has always been unwilling to listen
to an outside person's ideas and suggestions. I submitted my
share of ideas working on the USTA Tennislink Team many years
ago. Most ideas grown inside the organization have to go through
committee after committee and may have a chance to be implemented
within 3-4 years, if they're lucky. Come to think of it, I wonder
how the move to Lake Nona traveled through those committees...
From Javier
Palenque's 10/21/2-17 LinkedIn article
"The Arrogance of Ignorance in Tennis in America
- Ignoring the Ubiquitous"
Javier asking top management and board to resign is a fair request,
in my opinion - if his data is correct and tennis is so ill it
needs ER treatment. Why continue with a losing team? When a professional
sports team in NFL/MLB/NBA continues losing, their owner fires
the manager. Who's holding the USTA accountable? They surely
are accountable to us members, and the tax payers. No?
I say let's welcome the dialogue. Have an open mind. Request
hard data proof from Javier Palenque for his allegations. And
also request the USTA to respond and open their books. No delay
tactics or other shenanigans.
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