Lessons from Lambeau Field

Originally published on LinkedIn, November 7, 2016

Lesson 1: If you don’t believe the culture of your organization affects its performance, reflect on team sports and think again.

Lesson 2: We do love cute animal stories. Squirrel!

Lesson 3: The first step in correcting a problem is to identify the issue.

Many Green Bay Packer fans in Wisconsin and across the globe went to bed last night shaking our heads over the team’s disappointing performance yesterday. It’s not the first time this year that we’ve watched and thought “they just don’t look good! What is going on?” Commentators wonder about these incredibly talented individuals who aren’t coming together as a team.

Aaron Rodgers, as reported by ESPN, “You feel the energy and excitement and the focus, it just wasn’t where it needed to be, and that’s on everybody — myself included. We’ve got to find a way to get guys dialed in.”

Besides allowing this die hard Packer fan to vent, what does this have to do with your organization? Well, no one studies statistics more than sportscasters and they will cite number upon number to explain how things have changed to support what we are seeing as we watch a game. The poor statistics and mediocre record are evidence of the alignment issues that are plaguing the Green Bay Packers.

Your organization’s numbers provide evidence that can lead to insight. It can be harder to identify issues when your performance is measured in time periods longer than 3 hours so use those numbers as indicators of your progress. When your net income changes do you have an explanation? Is it cyclical? Is there a situation or performance issue that needs to be addressed? If so, do you have the resources and a plan to do so?

It’s much easier to win when the whole team is focused on the same outcomes. To paraphrase Aaron Rodgers, are your employees “dialed in”? When the whole team is passionate and using their skills to the best of their ability toward a common goal, it’s hard to lose.