Pass, run or punt? Why not kick a field goal? Maybe hurl a “Hail Mary pass” deep into the end zone? The logic behind the tense decisions in American professional football translates into valuable lessons for the similarly brutal business world.
That's the premise behind The Score Takes Care of Itself, My Philosophy of Leadership (coming in August, 2009, Portfolio, 242-plus pages, US$25.95) by Bill Walsh, a white-haired mastermind who coached the National Football League's San Francisco 49ers to three Super Bowl titles (1981, 1984 and 1988). A keen observer, practical thinker and perpetual “teacher”, he offers his football philosophy translated for use in boardrooms, offices and other workplaces.
Essentially, Walsh urges aiming for perfection, ensuring that teammates do the same, striving hard and working smart, preparing diligently and tending to details. Doing all the right things to precision allows the game scores (or business results) to “take care of themselves”.
Much of Walsh's business advice amounts to common sense. But everyone can benefit from many of his comments and suggestions. For example:
-- When necessary, devise new strategies to make the most of limited talent or resources.
-- The road to success detours through failures. When knocked down, stand up, brush off the dust and evaluate. Learn and gain strength. Then compete again, smarter and better.
-- There's no guaranteed formula for success, but “a multitude of means” increase the probability.
-- Knowing that colleagues demand and expect a lot from you, and you from them, means the sky's the limit.
-- Few things offer greater returns on less investment than praise. Give credit when teammates excel.
-- A leader wanting to hear only “yes” soon sails into the sunset at the helm of a ship of fools.
Sadly, Walsh (1931-2007) died of leukemia two years ago. By then, he'd nearly finished the book with Steve Jamison, a consultant to the UCLA/Anderson School of Management. With help from the coach's colleagues and kin, especially son Craig, Jamison finished the project.
Former quarterback Joe Montana, who'd never seen an NFL game in person before joining the 49ers, writes a foreword: “Bill got all of us striving to be perfect in games and practice.... He said that if you aim for perfection and miss, you're still pretty good, but if you aim for mediocre and miss? Well, he didn't allow us to think like that.”
The media called Walsh a “genius” for his knack to devise new strategies and coax the best from players. In the book, he rejects the lofty label, but then immodestly professes “the genius” of his philosophy, decisions and results.
Initially, Walsh looked nothing like a genius. In 1979, he took control of a losing team that continued losing. In his first season, the 49ers won two games and lost 14. A year later, they improved slightly to 6-10. By then, the frustrated bench boss had been reduced to tears and nearly resigned. But suddenly, his “standard of performance” took hold. In his third season, he guided the team to a 13-3 record and a Super Bowl victory.
The coach grossly exaggerates by comparing gridiron battles to warfare. Anyone who has faced real bullets, flesh-ripping explosions and extreme dangers in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere may object. Pro football may be a serious business, but it's not “deadly serious”.
Some notorious names appear. For example, Walsh criticizes his 49ers predecessor for acquiring O.J. Simpson (later a defendant in a famous murder trial) from Buffalo when the player was “at the end of his career – overweight, arthritic and out of gas”.
Led by Coach Walsh (1979-89), the 49ers won 102 games and lost 63. Most readers will count The Score Takes Care of Itself as another success, one more for the win column.
Approval rating: 79 per cent.
(June 30, 2009)
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Coach Bill Walsh (left) and quarterback
Joe Montana confer on the book cover.
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