4 business lessons from the World Cup

The World Cup is a glorious spectacle of a tournament, an exhilarating culmination of the hopes and fears of hundreds of millions of soccer fans worldwide, including a rising number of Americans.

I grew up in England where soccer (or football as we call it) is by far the most popular sport. And as a national phenomena, the World Cup offers a lot of useful insights into group psychology, which means there are valuable lessons that can be applied to business and economics.

Here are four.

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1. Don't set expectations unreasonably high

England — the self-proclaimed "home" of soccer — hasn't won the World Cup since the nation hosted the tournament in 1966. Yet that hasn't stopped England from setting insanely high expectations. And after tasting defeat in their opening game against Italy, England's chances in the tournament appear to be slipping away — if they lose to Uruguay tomorrow, they're out.

When I was younger, I ruined my World Cups by buying into the massive media hype, and hoping for an England victory. England were never a particularly bad side, but there are 32 teams in the tournament, all of which want badly to win. And when England inevitably lost against better opposition — Argentina in 1998, Brazil in 2002, Portugal in 2006, Germany in 2010 — the letdown was all the worse.

The classic corollary in business is the stock market bubble, which can turn an investor's wildest dream into a nightmare faster than you can say Raheem Sterling.

But there are other lessons, too. The high expectations England set for their football team may have made the team itself choke. If you are excessively careful and self-aware about what you're doing while you're doing it — like a gymnast who checks herself mid-routine — you can severely impair your performance.

It's the same with any business endeavor. Excessive self-awareness can paralyze decision-making. And failure to live up to perfectionist standards often leads to frustration, unhappiness, and loss of enthusiasm and perseverance.

2. Don't burn out

England's lack of success at the World Cup can also be attributed to its long, punishing domestic football season, which leaves its players wrung out.

England's Barclays Premier League — where 21 out of 22 of England's World Cup squad play — is the most widely watched soccer league in the world. And unlike its counterparts in Spain, Italy, and Germany, the BPL lacks a winter break, playing through from August to May and leaving little time to recover for the World Cup in June.

Tired players underperform, and are more likely to become injured. Studies have shown in the past that players from the Premier League are four times as likely to be injured in the final three months of the season as their European counterparts.

The point is clear: businesses that want their workers to be at their best should give them enough time off to avoid the dreaded burn-out. Studies show that taking vacations can improve worker productivity, and help the economy as a whole.

3. Don't put all your eggs in one basket

Like England, Portugal and Argentina have also failed to live up to expectations in recent World Cups. But these two teams are led by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, respectively, widely recognized as the two best individual players in the world.

This year, Argentina got off to a decent start by beating Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-1 in a performance capped by a brilliant Messi goal. But Portugal lost 4-0 to Germany, none of whose players are as brilliant as Ronaldo. Germany was much better organized — and it helped that they didn't have a player sent off for a needless headbutt.

A football team — like most businesses today — isn't just one brilliant individual taking on the world. It is a complex structure of individuals working together to produce something more than the sum of the parts. One brilliant individual means nothing if the team is not functioning as a cohesive unit.

4. Don't be a technophobe

For years, FIFA held out on using sensor technology to determine whether balls had crossed the line and gone into the goal, instead relying on the judgment of referees.

Referees, being human, sometimes made the wrong decision at important moments, leaving soccer fans frustrated. All the while, other sports, like tennis, successfully adopted sensor technology years ago.

FIFA finally relented in time for this year's World Cup, adopting goal line technology. That was the right decision — if a new technology can improve accuracy or efficiency, holding out for the sake of tradition is just silly.

Businesses that fail to adapt to new technology — like Kodak's failure to embrace digital photography — get left behind by the market. And with the pace of innovation continuing to increase, this is only becoming truer.