You Win with Blocking and Tackling

In American football, blocking and tackling are the most fundamental skills in the game. A team cannot win consistently without mastering them. It doesn’t matter how talented the quarterback is or how skilled the other players might be — if the team can’t execute the fundamentals on every play, they will lose.

Given the average NFL payroll is $255.4 million per year, one might assume that every team would excel at blocking and tackling. Yet, despite universal awareness of their importance, some teams consistently perform at the top while others struggle at the bottom. Why the disparity?

• Bad habits – some players formed bad habits in the past because they were able to compensate for poor form using other attributes (e.g. speed, size, power). As the competition increased, however, those other attributes were no longer outstanding, but the bad habits persist.

• Ego –some players have an inflated sense of their abilities or underestimate the competition. In both cases, players make poor decisions and are lax in their efforts.  

• Schemes – the schemes implemented are too complicated to execute effectively. Plays fall apart because the entire team isn’t on the same page.

• Wrong play – the team is poorly situated against their opponent’s attack.  

The same truths apply in business. Basics matter. Organizations that master fundamental tasks outperform those that don’t. When teams avoid small errors that cause delays, sap morale, and disappoint stakeholders, they build momentum. Executing the fundamentals well not only drives success but also makes work more enjoyable - teams rack up wins daily and avoid the grind of all-nighters and crisis mode.

Sounds simple, and it can be, when practiced daily. Good blocking and tackling is mundane. Leaders sometimes forget recognize and reinforce it with the team. Effective leadership means balancing the little details with the big picture, encouraging every team member to anticipate what’s next, understand their responsibilities, and work together without ego.

Good blocking and tackling requires evaluating every situation within its own context. Rules of thumb are great, when they apply. Effective leaders and team members will understand that every situation is potentially different and the right action from one problem to the next may be different.

It requires leaders understand the difference between effort and outcomes. Teams that struggle with the basics may be working incredibly hard just to overcome the drag of constant issues. Make sure team members understand their roles, their multipliers, and their priorities. Leaders also need to identify players who settle for “good enough” and coach them to a higher level.

Organizations need effective processes that disseminate and strengthen best practices. Just like a great offensive scheme helps a team score, an efficient set of processes helps organization optimize their performance. Don’t forget, football schemes have variations based on need, and so do processes in great organizations.

NFL teams watch game film to understand how to improve performance. Business teams need the same disciple. Teams should perform honest and thoughtful retrospectives.  It’s important to coach your younger managers on how to execute good retrospectives. Senior leadership participation in a retrospective can be intimidating, so it is important that your junior managers do them well.

Coaching a team to focus on the fundamentals may encounter resistance at first, but persistence pays off. Once teams internalize the behaviors, they build a self-reinforcing cycle of better execution. Leaders should expect improved results without expecting credit — reinforcing again the need to leave your ego at home.

Finally, no matter how disciplined a team becomes, there will still be plays that break down. A single mistake, or simple bad luck, can ruin an otherwise well-executed plan. In those moments, the only answer is resilience: line up and play the next play.  

Tips and Techniques

• Team members focus on what leaders focus on. Leaders need to show they appreciate attention to detail and excellence — the little things matter.

• Leaders must recognize the difference between effort and outcomes. When they don’t align, investigate.

• Enable teams with best practices and make sure they are consistently used.

  • Always be open to a better best practice.

• Emphasize that solutions depend on the context; the right solution for similar problems may be completely different.

• Ensure every role has well defined responsibilities and team members execute them fully.

• Fix causes, not symptoms. Take an expansive view when root causing issues. Problems often originate several stages upstream.

• Coach younger managers on how to run thoughtful retrospectives and help them move from symptoms to root causes.

• Reinforce that learning from mistakes is acceptable, but repeating mistakes is not.