The Agony of Defeat

On Tuesday, I watched one of the best baseball games I've ever seen. The Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins were tied in the American League Central Division after a full season of 162 games. A one game playoff ensued. The game was pushed to Tuesday night to accommodate the Vikings-Packers game on Monday night.


Back and forth the the game went. After nine innings, the game was still tied. It seemed that they would play well into the night when the Twins finally won in the bottom of the 12th inning. As you can imagine, the Metrodome (home of the Twins) erupted in unbridled joy as did the Twins themselves. The Tigers on the other hand were left to wonder what happened. They had a 7 game lead in early September. They had a two game lead going into the last weekend of the season. They lost 2 of 3 and the Twins swept the Royals to end up in a tie. I'm sure there were many in Detroit who thought the division crown was in the bag and were planning for the playoffs. This includes players, managers and fans. The Twins-Tigers game showed both "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat."


The past couple of years businesses have been witnessing and feeling the agony of defeat. Long-time customers are heading for greener pastures; businesses are closing expectantly leaving their suppliers holding the bag; the big sale doesn't happen even after promises have been made to the contrary. There should be no excuse for an organization not to see the signs of a customer leaving, closing or promising one thing and doing another. It means that the organization hasn't executed as a team. They haven't developed relationships throughout the organization. We haven't asked the tough questions. Good business practices requires execution on a daily basis. Fall down one day, pick yourself up and go at it again. Allow the organization to fall down and not get up quickly will create a death spiral. Just like baseball players, organizations can't turn themselves off and on at a moment's notice. Work hard, be consistent, demand much of each other. Execute properly to avoid the agony of defeat!

Hype and Hoopla

Labor Day is by far the best weekend in sports. Baseball pennant races are heating up, the US Open Tennis tournament is in full swing and most importantly, college football begins. Colleges across the country will start their seasons with much hoopla-some have dreams of a national championship. The bands will whip the fans into a frenzy and the atmosphere will be electric. This excitement will continue as long as the team keeps winning. Unfortunately, after a couple of losses, students and fans will find other things to do.


This is not much different than most organizations. How many times has an organization kicked off a new initiative with much fanfare? Members of the leadership team march out and announce that this project will change the course of the organization. Everyone needs to participate and make the initiative happen. Those listening may get fired up for a while, but as soon as obstacles are introduced, that fire cools.


The key to any new initiative is to get "wins" early. Just like a college team builds interest and enthusiasm through good play and early wins, so should an organization. Just as major college football teams pad their schedule with smaller and less talented teams, organizations should go after the easy changes. Do things "they should have done a long time ago." This is called "low hanging fruit" in the business world.


"Wins" translates to interest. Interest translates to engagement. Engagement translates to change. College football teams depend on it-why shouldn't organizations.