Winning in the offseason is no joke in soccer or business

It’s been more than a week since confetti fell on the Kansas City Chiefs after they defeated the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl, and most football fans are already counting down the days until the April 25-27 NFL Draft. They are desperately looking for new players. How to spend Sunday.

In the off-season, everything slows down and competitors find and occupy poolside villas and disrupt buffet lines. right?

no way. Next year’s Super Bowl winner is already rejuvenated and promises to show up on Monday ready to go to work. The expression “winning in the offseason” has come to mean a joke aimed at teams buzzing with news of big trades and wild predictions. The gist of the joke is win the offseason It’s pointless, and the team that headlines the offseason would be far better off focusing on the field.

That’s my point, after all, shouldn’t we be looking at the offseason as something we can “win”? Perhaps the truth is that you can’t win the season if you don’t win the offseason? I believe the answer is yes, and I also think: off season This provides a useful metaphor for the intermediate situations that businesses and other organizations experience all the time.

Maybe your company just landed its biggest deal, made a key hire, or surpassed last quarter’s sales. Conversely, your company may have lost out to a competitor, failed to hire the right talent, or found itself understaffed after a strong month. Win or lose, in both scenarios you’ll learn something about yourself and your competitors that will help you grow the following year. Or will they achieve that elusive three-peat, as was the case with the Chiefs?

One thing is for sure: holding a press conference is not the answer. However, there are several ways that organizations can increase their chances of repeating great results. they are:

1. Always focus on the future: One of my favorite quotes comes from former Penn State women’s volleyball coach Russ Rose. His seven national championships and his 1,330-229 career head coaching record have made him a legend in the sports world. “Never sleep in the trophy room,” was the message Rose gave to the entire class of young women she coached at Penn State. Never succumb to complacency. Never give in to complacency.
2. Embrace change: The overused phrase “That’s the way we’ve always done it!” It’s not a winning formula. Winning teams value tradition and culture, and part of that culture includes a deep recognition that what worked in the past is unlikely to continue working in the future. For example, the “West Coast” or “spread offense” developed by San Francisco’s Hall of Fame coach Bill Welsh helped San Francisco build a dynasty in the 1980s and changed the way NFL teams operated their offenses. More recently, Kyle Shanahan, another 49ers coach, pioneered an entirely new and completely opposite offensive concept based on condensation of formations. This concept has been copied by other teams.
3. Call the SWOT team. The condensed offensive formation brought the 49ers to several Super Bowls, but no championships. Shanahan and his coaching staff will carefully consider this reason, as well as other strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats from the past year. In Shanahan’s case, he pointed to one weakness in defensive coordinator Steve Wilkes, who had a hard time adjusting to Shanahan’s vision for the defensive scheme. Shanahan took the clearly painful but necessary step of firing Wilkes. But he’ll also be keeping a close eye on the star-studded offense, which was shut down by the Chiefs’ defense for much of the second half.
4. Polish the tip: Aside from the incredible coaching and talent of the players; teeth Ridiculous — Kansas City has not only inherited the dynasty mantle once worn by the New England Patriots, but it appears they’ve mastered the art of manufacturing the chip on their shoulder that made the Patriots the team everyone hated. . In 2019, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady still said “everybody thinks we suck,” and receiver Julian Edelman released a T-shirt telling fans to “bet on us.” . They won yet another Super Bowl anyway, defeating a team from Kansas City 37-31 and then the Los Angeles Rams 13-3 in the Super Bowl.

Last year, after beating Philadelphia 38-35 in the Super Bowl, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce channeled his inner Brady when he yelled into the camera: , not one. Next time the Chiefs say something, please respect our name. ”

Yes, Kelce has proven time and time again that he belongs on the “strength” side of the Chiefs’ SWOT ledger. He has learned his lessons and knows the value of winning in the offseason. And as he closes out the first quarter of 2024 with hopes of winning a Super Bowl, let us all be too!

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