Urgency (2)
I grimaced while watching the Jets-Patriots game this evening. The Jets played an awesome first half and leaped out to a big lead. The Patriots scored right before half and then carried that momentum into the second half and charged back within one touchdown with only a few minutes left in the game. The Jets got the ball back with just over 2 minutes to go and only needed to make one first down to run out the clock. Instead of staying aggressive, they went conservative and sure enough, they ended up punting the ball away with just over a minute to go. The Patriots returned to offense and the Jets went into a “prevent defense”, the scourge of all defenses. I wanted to leave the room or close my eyes because I knew what was coming – big chunks of yardage given up with each play and ultimately a touchdown with only 1 second remaining to tie the game. It seems to happen that way all the time – you get conservative to preserve the lead and instead you give up the lead by being conservative.
Business is no different. When you get conservative to preserve any gains you’ve made, you end up losing many of the gains you worked so hard to achieve. Don’t get conservative when times get tough! Instead, speed up your cycles, make faster decisions, take quick inventory of what the market is giving you, attack the areas where gains can be made, and regain momentum in smaller but more decisive chunks.
PS. The Jets won the coin toss in overtime, went on offense, and turned Brett Favre loose to attack the holes in the defense. As a result, they moved the ball down the field for a game winning field goal. I can’t help but believe that overtime could have been avoided and the Jets could have won the game in regulation if they hadn’t gone away from what got them the lead and instead became too conservative in offense. I also can’t help but think that the Patriots would have marched right down the field and won the game themselves if they had won the coin toss. The Jets got a second chance and won the game because of the right call on the coin flip – that was a close call for the Jets. That’s an unacceptable risk for business.