Monday, January 24, 2005

Business Lessons from the Patriots

Harvard Business School as a review of the new book on the Patriot's: Patriot Reign: Bill Belichick, the Coaches, and the Players Who Built a Champion by Michael Holley.

I'll have to put it on my list (already growing long) of books to read this year.

In the mean time, let me share some thoughts on what I have been witnessing and tie to what I heard during the broadcast of the Patriot-Steelers game last night. The commentators were remarking on how Belichick has developed this team. He finds good players, each player has a role, emphasizing how each player participates in each game. And they were saying all this as if the rest of the NFL didn't, in fact, going so far as to say others were now considering this.

There are a number of business folks who say that is it more important to have the right people on the bus than to have people on the bus. NFL players do not come as cheaply as office workers. To have some number of them just practice and not play is certainly a waste. Why are they there? Why doesn't the rest of the NFL do what the Patriot's do? Probably for the same reasons as why the rest of the business world does not. Some get it, some don't.

So, the bottom line for the today's business lesson reinforced by the success of the New England Patriot's: Set a goal, get good players, ensure each knows their role, ensure each does their thing each day/game, regroup after and review what was done and what is required for the next time. The positive reinforcement of this process is self-fulfilling. Walk the talk. And who knows how far your team will go!

I believe that the Patriot's will continue to go as far as they want to go as long as Bill Belichick is leading the way.

Go Patriot's!

How far he will continue to go will be questioned now that he has admitted to cheating.
updated 9/12/07

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