, Columnist
The Hardest Workers Don't Do the Best Work
The U.S. soccer team beats the world in hustle. There's a lesson there for business.
He's not No. 1 in hustle.
Photographer: Javier Soriano/AFP/Getty ImagesAt the 2014 World Cup soccer tournament in Brazil, the U.S. midfielder Michael Bradley put up a statistic that wowed folks back home: He ran further than anyone else. Through three games, Bradley had covered a total of 23.4 miles, according to a micro-transmitter embedded in his cleat, while his team finished tops among nations in “work rate,” a simple measure of movement per minute otherwise known as running around.
Commentators at the New York Times, U.S. News, and NBC Sports were duly impressed. Left unmentioned was the fact that the lowest work rate of the tournament by a non-defender was recorded by its most valuable player, Argentine goal machine Lionel Messi.