Indecision Leads to Losses
Microsoft and Cookie Cutting
I worked at a small company once, and the owner wanted to be successful like Bill Gates, and wanted to grow his company in leaps and bounds. This owner tried virtually every management and leadership methodology and philosophy known to man, but always seemed to fail to achieve the desired results. I could only assume he knew the results he desired.
Cookie cutter businesses are successful because they identify a winning formula that can be successfully reproduced over and over and over, without incessantly tampering with the winning formula.
Focus, Focus, Focus
It became evident to me early, and after nearly three years of watching this individual dabble in this, and dabble in that, that the owner would never achieve his lofty goals. It wasn’t for a lack of desire and effort, or supporting characters; it was for a lack of concerted desire and focused and sustained effort, and an abysmal ability to trust in his insufficient number of supporting characters.
Ante Up or Fold
Can you imagine an NFL football team striving to get to the Super Bowl and relying upon a “Santa Saver” savings account to do so? Or, firing and hiring a new Offensive Coordinator or Defensive Coordinator virtually every season? Particularly, if from season to season each new Offensive or Defensive Coordinator had his own personal agenda, coaching style, football strategy, methodology, philosophy, and game plan, that not lonely differed from their predecessors’, but also differed from their coaching colleagues to be.
Just Win Baby
Every NFL team begins the football season with the single goal in mind of winning enough games to place themselves in the Super Bowl. Perhaps this fictitious team starts out with a defensive mindset based on the premise that “offense wins games” and “defense wins championships.” Therefore their secondary goal is not to loose games. The season starts and the team is trying hard “not to loose,” but the team starts the season by loosing more games than they win, and have a tie or two. The Team Owner thinks the Head Coach is under-achieving and the Team Owner’s goal of reaching the Super Bowl is in jeopardy. The Team Owner gives the Head Coach an ultimatum. The Head Coach either puts more W’s in the win column, or finds himself in the unemployment line.
Do Unto Others or Pin the Tail on the Donkey
The Head Coach sacks his Defensive Coordinator since the defense is giving up too many points a game, which he attributes to the losses. However, the Head Coach doesn’t consider the mindset they agreed upon at the onset of the season. He hires a new Defensive Coordinator, and the mindset shifts once again. The new mindset is “the best defense is a good offense.” The Offensive Coordinator takes advantage of the demise of his colleague and institutes a “big play offense.” He persuades the Team Owner that scoring more points is the answer to their dilemma, and will get more fans in the stadium. The game plan becomes an aerial assault week-in and week-out, at the expense of the running game. The Offensive Coordinator believes that what he needs is to score touchdowns, quickly and often, not realizing that this mindset leaves an already tired and weak defense on the field more minutes in a game than they are capable of defending for.
Radial Keratotomy or Cranial-Rectitus
Opponents recognize the shortsightedness of the coaching strategy and philosophy, and the fact they are not a multifaceted team, choosing to use a single offensive weapon. The team is outplayed again for several weeks, when their opponents play cover zone, and don’t think twice about the run. It is now evident to the Team Owner and General Manager that the team will not make it to the Super Bowl this year, but they want to salvage the rest of the season and plan for the next season. The Team Owner and General Manager meet with the Head Coach once again and give him the same ultimatum.
Pin the Tail on the Donkey (revisited)
Since the Offensive Coordinator wasn’t able to put more points on the board than his opponents, he is the likely candidate to join the ranks of unemployment line, just behind the Defensive Coordinator. However, it is too late in the season, and all the successful Offensive Coordinators have multi-year contracts, and there isn’t any Offensive Coordinator available until the next season. Additionally, tried and true Offensive Coordinators come at a hefty price, especially in a crunch, and he knows the Team Owner won’t crack open his wallet to ensure the teams success, which only perpetuates the loosing trend.
No Spin Zone
The Head Coach has to decide whether he takes on the Offensive Coordinator role himself, putting his own job in jeopardy, or he promotes an inexperienced member of the coaching staff. The Head Coach doesn’t want to get any closer to the unemployment line, so he decides to promote from within. He can spin his reasoning by stating that the coaching staff member is a known commodity and is intimately aware of the owners wants and desires. Besides, the Head Coach is fulfilling his fiduciary obligation to the Team Owner and the Franchise by eliminating the need to select from a pool of proven coaches and paying the prevailing salary. Instead, he can promote his Offensive Line Coach, paying substantially less money to become the Interim Offensive Coordinator, while still retaining his Offensive Line Coaching duties and assuming the same risk as his predecessor.
Brilliant!
The Head Coach fires the Offensive Coordinator and promotes the Offensive Line Coach to the role of Interim Offensive Coordinator, giving the Head Coach a way out if his strategy fails again. If the “Interim” Offensive Coordinator doesn’t work out, and/or a proven Offensive Coordinator becomes free at the right price before the start of the next season, he can make another shortsighted decision. Brilliant!
Run Forrest, Run
The new Offensive Coordinator’s strategy is run the ball “three yards in a cloud of dust,” and to pass only on third and long, or within the red zone. The team’s season ends in another mediocre season with just as many losses as wins and a smattering of tied games. The Head Coach realizes he has made yet another mistake and that his new Offensive Coordinator lives and dies by the run. The running game worked in part, and the team was able to advance the ball down the field, but without a passing game of any type, their opponents were once again able to easily defense their unbalanced attack. They found that they were able to eat up large chunks of the game clock, but they also found that more often than not, they were unable to sustain the drive and finish with a field goal, let alone a touchdown and extra point.
Balance… What a Concept
None of the strategies were successful, because they were all shortsighted, myopic, simplistic, and single faceted, making them easy to defend and even easier to score against. The lack of a balanced attack that incorporates both a running and passing game, prevented this team from achieving their goals.
There is Always Next Season… You Hope
A new season is coming upon the Team Owner, General Manager, Head Coach, Coordinators, and Coaching staff. The Team Owner has one of two choices to pick from, he can continue to waffle year in and year out about the type of team he wants to own and operate, or he can decide on a balanced attack and stick with a game plan that the entire organization can get behind and support.
Sure the Team Owner owns the team, but without a concerted effort from the entire team, he can only hope his franchise doesn’t fold or at best get purchased by another owner in another city.
Moral of the Story
Realize what you want from yourself first and your company second. Chose a single philosophy to ascribe to and follow the precepts explicitly. Small steps are okay, but you have to recognize when you’re marching in place.
You can tell when you’re marching in place, because you can’t see anyone else around you, due to the thick cloud of dust you are creating. Invest in yourself, by investing in you company’s employees and the tools and resources that make your employees productive and happy. Yes, I said happy.
Happy employees are more productive employees. Productivity will make you more profitable. Give your clients what they want and pay for. If you customers pay for excellent and knowledgeable customer service, you owe them that.
