Market Commentary

  • Mad About March Madness

    March Madness is in full swing and will have the world's attention for a few more days. As you can guess, almost no one has a perfect bracket anymore. McNeese beat Clemson, Drake beat Mizzou, and Arkansas handed Kansas its first first-round loss since 2006. On Friday, the NCAA said that of the over 34 million brackets submitted at the start of March Madness, approximately 1,600 remained perfect. That's less than .1% after the first day. The first game of the tournament – Creighton vs. Louisville – busted over half of the brackets. 

    Before 24/7 sports channels, people watched the weekly show "The Wide World of Sports."  Its opening theme promised "The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat!" and "The human drama of athletic competition." That defines March Madness.

    The holy grail is mighty elusive in March Madness (as in most things). For example, the odds of getting the perfect bracket are 1 in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 (that is 1 in 9.223 quintillion if that was too many zeros count). If you want better odds, then you can have a 1 in 2.4 trillion chance based on a Duke Mathematician's formula that takes into account ranks). It's easier to win back-to-back lotteries than picking a perfect bracket. Nonetheless, I bet you felt pretty good when you filled out your bracket.

    via Duke University

    Here's some more crazy March Madness Stats: 

     

    Feeding the Madness

    "Not only is there more to life than basketball, there's a lot more to basketball than basketball." – Phil Jackson

    In 2017, I highlighted three people who were (semi) successful at predicting March Madness: a 13-year-old who used a mix of guesswork and preferences, a 47-year-old English woman who used algorithms and data science (despite not knowing the game), and a 70-year-old bookie who had his finger on the pulse of the betting world. None of them had the same success even a year later.

    Finding an edge is hard – Maintaining an edge is even harder.

    That's not to say there aren't edges to be found. 

    Bracket-choosing mimics the way investors pick trades or allocate assets. Some people use gut feelings, some base their decisions on current and historical performance, and some use predictive models. You've got different inputs, weights, and miscellaneous factors influencing your decision. That makes you feel powerful. But knowing the history, their ranks, etc., can help make an educated guess, and they can also lead you astray. 

    The allure of March Madness is the same as gambling or trading. As sports fans, it's easy to believe we know something the layman doesn't. We want the bragging rights for the sleeper pick that went deeper than most expected, our alma mater winning, and for the big upset we predicted. 

    You'd think an NCAA analyst might have a better shot at a perfect bracket than your grandma or musical-loving co-worker.

    In reality, several of the highest-ranked brackets every year are guesses. 

    The commonality in all decisions is that we are biased. Bias is inherent to the process because there isn't a clear-cut answer. We don't know who will win or what makes a perfect prediction. 

    Think about it from a market efficiency standpoint. People make decisions based on many factors — sometimes irrational ones — which can create inefficiencies and complexities. It can be hard to find those inefficiencies and capitalize on them, but they're there to be found. 

    In trading, AI and advanced math help remove biases and identify inefficiencies humans miss.

    Can machine learning also help in March Madness?

    “The greater the uncertainty, the bigger the gap between what you can measure and what matters, the more you should watch out for overfitting – that is, the more you should prefer simplicity” – Tom Griffiths

    Basketball_5faa91_405080

    The data is there. Over 100,000 NCAA regular-season games were played over the last 25+ years, and we generally have plenty of statistics about the teams for each season. There are plenty of questions to be asked about that data that may add an extra edge. 

    That said, people have tried before with mediocre success. It's hard to overcome the intangibles of sports—hustle, the crowd, momentum—and it's hard to overcome the odds of 1 in 9.2 quintillion. 

    Two lessons can be learned from this:

    1. People aren't as good at prediction as they predict they are.
    2. Machine Learning isn't a one-size-fits-all answer to all your problems.

    Something to think about.

  • The Psychology of Gamblers

    March Madness, Vegas, and Wall Street share a lot in common. 

    Over Time … The House Wins

    Casinos only offer to play games that they expect to win. In contrast, gambling customers play even though they know the odds are against them.

    Why does this happen? The rush of a win, the chance of a big win, and random reinforcement are common factors that incentivize people to play the lotto, go to a casino, or try to trade.

    Chemicals like adrenaline and dopamine play a part as well. Even in a sea of losses, your body can't help but crave the chemical reward of even a small win.

    The "House" knows this and engineers an experience that takes advantage of it.  

    In the case of casinos, every detail is meticulously crafted to extract you from your money – from carpet patterns to the labyrinthian layouts, the music, the lights, and even the games themselves. 

    Here is an infographic that lays it out for you. 

    Casino-psychology-infographicBojoko via DailyInfographic

    Most people aren't gamblers … the fear of losing big inhibits them. However, when people were instructed to "think like a trader," they showed considerably less risk aversion when gambling. And I bet you have no problem filling out a March Madness bracket, even if you put money on the line. 

    The illusion of control convinces us we can overcome the statistics. 

    When you almost get it right – when you guess the first round of March Madness correctly, when you miss the jackpot by one slot on a slot machine, when you just mistime a trade to get a big win – you're more likely to play longer, and place bigger bets … because you're "so close." 

    It's human nature to want to feel in control. 

    This is why you find a lot of superstitious traders & gamblers. If you wear this lucky item of clothing … if you throw the dice in this particular way … if you check your holdings at this time every day … you have control. 

    There is a big difference between causation and correlation. 

    It is not hard to imagine that, for most traders, the majority of their activities do little to create a real and lasting edge.  

    Skill vs. Luck

    There are games of skill, and there are games of chance.

    In a casino, poker, and blackjack are considered games of skill. In contrast, slot machines are considered a game of chance.

    In trading, predicting markets is much different than using math and statistics to measure the performance of a technique.

    Much of what we do is to figure out how to eliminate the fear, greed, and discretionary mistakes humans bring to trading.

    In trading, "Alpha" is the measure of excess return attributed to manager skill, rather than luck or taking on more risk.

    We believe in Alpha-by-Avoidance … Meaning much of what we do is figure out what to ignore or avoid so that more of the games we play are games of skill rather than games of chance.

    Are you playing the right game?

  • Skype’s Kodak Moment: Remnants of a Past Era

    Last week, Microsoft announced that Skype would shut down in May … after over two decades of service. 

    Hydrox existed before Oreo, and Betamax before VHS.

    But Skype might be even more surprising. Skype was so ubiquitous that it became a verb and eponymous with video calling. As a world traveler, Skype also used to be the go-to international calling app.

    Imagine if Kleenex, Jell-O, or Band-Aids went out of business. 

    That’s what Skype did – and it’s not the first tech business to fail similarly…

    Thinking Linearly in an Exponential Age

    Humans can’t do a lot of things. Honestly, the fact that we’re at the top of the food chain is pretty miraculous. 

    We’re slow, weak, and famously bad at understanding large numbers or exponential growth. 

    Making matters worse, our brains are hardwired to think locally and linearly.

    It’s a monumental task for us to fathom exponential growth … let alone its implications. 

    Think how many companies have failed due to that inability … RadioShack couldn’t understand a future where shopping was done online – and Kodak didn’t think digital cameras would replace good ol’ film. Blockbuster couldn’t foresee a future where people would want movies in their mailboxes because “part of the joy is seeing all your options!” They didn’t even make it long enough to see “Netflix and Chill” become a thing. The list goes on. 

     

    via Diamandis

    Human perception is linear. Technological growth is exponential.

    There are many examples. Here is one Peter Diamandis calls “The Kodak Moment” (a play on words of “a Kodak Moment”… the phrase Kodak used in advertising to mean a “special moment that’s worth capturing with a camera”). 

    In 1996, Kodak was at the top of its game, with a market cap of over $28 billion and 140,000 employees.

    Few people know that 20 years earlier, in 1976, Kodak had invented the digital camera. It had the patents and the first-mover advantage.

    But that first digital camera was a baby that only its inventor could love and appreciate.

    That first camera took .01 megapixel photos, took 23 seconds to record the image to a tape drive, and only shot in black and white.

    Not surprisingly, Kodak ignored the technology and its implications.

    Fast forward to 2012, when Kodak filed for bankruptcy – disrupted by the very technology that they invented and subsequently ignored.

    171220 Lessons From Kodak

    via Diamandis

    Innovation is a reminder that you can’t be medium-obsessed. Kodak’s goal was to preserve memories. It wasn’t to sell film. Blockbuster’s goal wasn’t to get people in their stores, it was to get movies in homes.  

    Henry Ford famously said: “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” Steve Jobs was famous for spending all his time with customers, but never asking them what they wanted.

    Two of our greatest innovators realized something that many never do. Being conscientious of your consumers doesn’t necessarily mean listening to them. It means thinking about and anticipating their wants and future needs.

    Meanwhile, despite Skype having several features that Zoom still hasn’t implemented, Zoom recognized an opportunity during COVID and capitalized. When Microsoft bought Skype, they focused on adding several new features and expanding the range of services instead of improving the quality of their audio or video. Meanwhile, when Zoom entered the space, they brought much better servers and the ability to have much larger rooms. More attendees meant a wider variety of use cases and quicker adoption and referral cycles. They also made it easy to join a Zoom room. Instead of getting your e-mail up front and forcing you to create an account to use it, they let you join a meeting without an account. You only needed an account to host a meeting. 

    They focused on making it easy to use their service and on having a clear identity instead of trying to ride every wave and become unfocused. Of course, at the same time, Microsoft stopped focusing on the tool, with an increased focus on their new competitor to Zoom, Teams. 

    Tech and AI are creating tectonic forces throughout industry and the world. It is time to embrace and leverage what that makes possible. History has many prior examples of Creative Destruction (and what gets left in the dust).

    Opportunity or Chaos …  You get to decide.

    Don’t forget … you don’t have to be the first mover to win in the end. 

    Onwards!

  • Triumph Through Trials: Becoming Anti-Fragile

    Many of our best decisions, timeliest course corrections, or significant innovations occur after a seemingly disastrous occurrence. That's why many psychologists and self-help gurus encourage people to focus on the hidden gift that many of these experiences provide.

    It's there if you look for it. That painful event becomes the catalyst for either something new, a better way, or a level-up.

    The goal isn't just to survive – it's to thrive. While a robust business can withstand shocks and a resilient business can recover from them, an anti-fragile business improves and grows stronger when exposed to volatility, randomness, disorder, and stressors.  The interesting thing about this concept is that it doesn't mean not fragile. It means things that weaken other systems are actually the things that strengthen you. 

    Of course, that's not the case for everyone or every event … It takes the right mindset and the right actions to turn a trial into a triumph. 

    As we see the world changing rapidly, both through AI and through Trump's presidency, I think back to 2008 and how a prior incarnation of algorithms fared against it (spoiler alert: not nearly as well as this time). They say the things that don't kill you make you stronger. Here's my trial into triumph story about that. 

     

    Via Howard Getson's YouTube Channel.

    Too many people become victims of their circumstances instead of choosing to be the master of their destinies. 

    Life is harder for people who live a life of least resistance. Doing the hard things and making the most of bad times makes life better and, ultimately, easier. 

    Tony Robbins calls this the Threshold of Control. If you push through the fear and the struggle … as you persevere, eventually, what was scary becomes easy. You've increased your threshold, and that's often a permanent improvement.  

    Here is a list of the seven steps I use to transform almost any situation.

    Seven Best Practices for Uncertain Times.

    1. Accept Reality: We are where we are. Focus on being complete with what happened before this – and think about this as a new beginning with an even bigger future.
    2. Do Something Positive: Take action and build momentum and confidence. Big wins are great. Yet, in scary times, even small items are worth noting, building upon, and stacking. Let progress build positive momentum for you.
    3. Take Care of Yourself: Increase your physical activity, meditation, and massage. Take time to eat and sleep well. Many studies show decision-making suffers when you're stressed. Caring for yourself goes a long way to improving many other things.
    4. Communicate More: The natural tendency is to hide or to recuperate in private. Instead, be open and receptive to help and ideas from friends, partners, or wherever it may come.
    5. Creative Destruction: The old game and the old ways of thinking are over. Shift your energy to what is working. Commit to the result you want rather than the process.
    6. Increase Your Options: It often takes a different level of thinking to solve a problem than the level of thinking that got you there in the first place. So, be open to opportunities, new possibilities, and more ways to win.
    7. Choose a Bigger Future: Instead of resigning yourself to playing small and doing with less, recognize that a clearing creates space for something even better. Choose what you want and call it into existence through your thoughts and actions.

    They say everything happens for a reason. The secret is that you get to choose the reason, what it means to you, and what you're going to do about it. Choose well, and someday, you could look back on this time as one of the best things that ever happened to you.

  • Are we in a Stock Market Bubble?

    The S&P 500's price-to-earnings ratio (CAPE) has recently been nearing historic highs. Traders think that signals that market valuations might be overheated. 

    In December of last year, it hit 37.9, over double its long-term average of 17.6. For context, it has only exceeded that level during the Dot-Com bubble and in 2021. 

     

    via visualcapitalist

    Overheated prices mean that there's a significant gap between company earnings and stock prices. That disparity translates to speculation and hope driving the stock price instead of more quantitative data. 

    For some historical perspective, after the Dot-Com bubble, the S&P declined by 40% in the following two years. And after its 2021 peak, the S&P sank almost 20%. 

    While AI enthusiasm has brought a spark to the markets, the question is, is that hype hiding deeper issues?

    On a broader note, my message to you would be that if you don't know what your edge is, you don't have one. Investors and traders should understand market indicators, economic trends, and other world factors – mainly because it's important to be educated (or at least informed). Of course, merely understanding these things does not translate to a reliable trading strategy or an edge in today's environment. 

    Lastly, just because something has been true in the past does not mean it predicts the future. In trading, we use the phrase "past performance is not indicative of future results" to remind us that there is a difference between a coincidence and a correlation. Indicators like CAPE study the past, so it is dangerous to assume you can use them to predict the future. For better or worse, whether markets go up or down is based on much more than earnings and stock prices. 

    But, with that said,  Warren Buffett just did something worth noting … He sold his holdings in the S&P 500 index funds he tells everyone to buy. So why did Buffett just sell them himself?

    We live in interesting times.  

    Onwards!

  • Is The NYSE Moving To Texas?

    While I mainly discuss entrepreneurship and technology trends, I still have a soft spot for trading, which remains a large part of what we do at Capitalogix. While we've broadened the industries in which we use our Capitalogix Insight Engine, it was originally built with trading technologies in mind. We have exciting new partnerships there, including a new fund.

    As we look forward, I thought it was a good time to look back as well.

    I'm sure you have heard about open outcry trading pits in Chicago and New York—where traders flashed hand signals lightning quick to buy and sell commodities like cattle, corn, gold, and pork bellies. Those pits, which were made famous in the movie Trading Places, thrived for decades. Nevertheless, the practice has lost out to a faster, cheaper, and quieter competitor: the computer and electronic trading.

    In 2016, I visited the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and took this video in front of the S&P trading pit during live trading hours. 

     

    via my YouTube Channel.

    In the video, I remarked that even though it looked empty – trading volume was higher than ever. Meaning that trading had once again evolved beyond the way it used to happen. According to the CME Group, by 2015, public outcry had fallen to 1% of total volume. Here is a video of what the S&P trading pit used to look like.

     

    "…the change in the pit isn't a harbinger of death for futures trading;  it's the signal of a new era." 

     

    At the time, it didn't feel like a bold statement to me – because what was coming felt inevitable. And it has proven to be true. Markets have changed radically since 2016. And you can bet that the changes aren't done, as AI and exponential technologies promise to transform markets and trading again.

    The process of trading and clearing is moving beyond human capabilities. As the old duties of the Exchange fade away, the focus must be on the dangers, opportunities, and strengths of a bigger future. That means new games to play, new risks to navigate, and a new set of rewards to capture.

     

    IMG_0392

    Nearly empty CME trading pits in 2016 (specifically, the S&P and Eurodollar)

    The new game involves not only new players, methods, and markets … but also a new geography.

    Yes, as more things become digital, geography still matters.

    In 2018, the Intercontinental Exchange acquired CHX and rebranded it to the NYSE Chicago. Now, that branch of the NYSE is moving to Dallas. 

    This follows announcements in 2024 of the launch of the Texas Stock Exchange, which has backing from people like Rick Perry. 

    Texas is rapidly becoming an even larger economic hub. It boasts the highest number of NYSE listings, Nasdaq recently established a large base here, and companies representing more than $3.7 trillion in market value list Texas as their headquarters.

    Meanwhile, lawmakers are pushing to make Texas even more business-friendly. With no corporate or personal income tax, Texas has one of the lowest tax burdens in the nation. The state also offers incentives for corporations to relocate.

    All of this can be taken as a reminder that opportunities, talent, and resources concentrate where energy and funds flow. 

    If you want to talk more about how to launch a business in Texas or anything Capitalogix is working on, reach out. 

  • A Look At Last Week’s Tech Breakthroughs

    We live in exciting times!

    No, I'm not talking about how fast the DOGE team is terraforming government.

    I'm talking about how fast the insights of exponential technologies are compounding the real-world implications of where we are and where we are going.

    In past issues, we've talked about how quickly the world is changing, how fast innovations happen, and why it's not about today's tools but rather the value and capabilities of the foundational assets we build upon … and, ultimately, the things that makes possible.

    Today's commentary is different from our usual posts. Yes, the inspiration came from my weekly curation of links selected based on what captured my attention or imagination. However, today's post is about the sheer volume and density of groundbreaking innovations competing for mindshare and investment dollars. And while commercial success is a great way to keep score, we'll explore what this accelerating pace of innovation means for our future and the world.

     

    In-a-fast-changing-world-focus-on-the-customer-problem

    So, here is a list of some of the things that made headlines this week.

    Some may not matter to you now. Try re-reading the list while letting yourself be amazed at what is happening!

    Any one of these is a momentous achievement that would have sounded like science fiction even 10 years ago. Now, that's one week of achievement. 

    As someone whose company invents things for a living, I understand that none of these breakthroughs were actually invented last week. Obviously, a long and winding road leads to each of those announcements. However, it's remarkable to see so many significant innovations reaching the stage of public announcement simultaneously.

    It's hard to quantify the impact of these innovations on not only the tech industry – but the world. 

    Think about the implications. Google's co-scientist is already solving problems that humans haven't been able to solve for decades. Clone is building robots that will use the next generations of AI to transform how we think about what artificial intelligence looks like. 

    Not to mention the improvement in quantum computing and nuclear fusion, industries that I've been paying attention to since the 90s. 

    While any of these topics would have made a good article, in my opinion, the whole is more impressive than the sum of its parts.

    If I had to pick one of those topics to highlight, I think it's now time to start focusing more on quantum computing. 

    To start, here's an hour-long interview with Satya Nadella about Microsoft's new quantum chip – and what it means for AI & business. 

     

    via Dwarkesh Patel

    Most of you probably aren't interested in watching the whole thing, but here are some of the highlights. 

    • They've created a new state of matter called a topological superconductor.
    • The qubits created with topological superconductors are fast, reliable, and small … very small.
    • These new qubits are 1/100th of a millimeter, meaning we now have a clear path to a million-qubit processor.
    • To put that in perspective, imagine a chip that can fit in the palm of your hand yet can solve problems that even all the computers on Earth today combined can't! 
    • Satya doesn't believe in making claims about how quickly AGI is coming.
    • However, he believes it is useful and productive to set a benchmark of making the world 10% better.
    • He also believes the topological superconductor breakthrough makes quantum computing a practical reality that can happen in a few years – not decades +.

    Prepare for things to get more interesting.

    We do live in exciting times!

  • Investment in AI is Rising …

    It’s no surprise that capital raising is moving toward AI – and often generative AI. 

     

    Proportional bubbles chart showing the capital flows into AI, using data from Pitchbook and Bloomberg

    via visualcapitalist

    From 2023-2024, over $26 billion flowed into the sector – including big deals like Inflection, xAI, and Anthropic. 

    While many of the biggest investments were in foundational models and infrastructure, some money is now moving into targeted AI applications. 

    AI isn’t just for researchers and the tech giants anymore … it’s becoming more commercial.

    Realistically, AI is overhyped – and there is a lot of competition. Yet, few firms have operationalized AI in a meaningful way. 

    With that said, here is a question worth considering.

    Where are the AI applications capable of generating returns that justify the infrastructure, investment, and focus?

    The next battle will likely be in the AI Applications space. To keep it short, why hasn’t it happened yet … and what will likely create the value we’re looking for?

     

    Why Haven’t AI Apps Taken Off Yet?

      •  Cost vs. Value Gap: Many AI applications are still experimental or add only incremental value.

      •  Compute Bottlenecks: AI compute costs remain expensive, limiting broader adoption.

      •  Enterprise Hesitation: Many companies are still figuring out how to integrate AI into their operations in a way that delivers real ROI.

     

    Where Might the Value Come From?

    For AI investments to pay off, applications must solve big problems, not just serve as experimental tools. The highest-value areas likely include:

      •  AI copilots and automation (Enterprise AI reducing labor costs and bottlenecks)

      •  Autonomous systems (AI for analytics, compliance, and logistics)

      •  AI-driven discovery (Accelerating breakthroughs in capabilities and performance)

      •  Next-gen digital assistants (LLMs with memory, context, and long-term utility)

     

    Right now, AI apps are where mobile apps were in 2008 — there is plenty of potential, but only a handful of genuinely indispensable use cases. 

    Companies like Capitalogix that crack the code on industrial-grade AI applications, will drive the next wave of value creation.

    It’s fun and rewarding to watch artificial intelligence become available to everyone.

    As the cost of “intelligence” decreases, let’s hope more people take advantage of the opportunity.

    However, the sad truth is the opposite is also more likely. As AI becomes more available, it becomes easier for it to become a distraction. 

    Remember the Internet? When it first started, most of the uses were academic. Now, despite there being functionally infinite ways to use the internet to improve your life and make you smarter, most people use it for memes and distractions. 

    When you think about AI, don’t just think about artificial intelligence … Think about amplified intelligence. That is the term I use to distinguish between the technology and what people really want … which is the ability to make better decisions, take smarter actions, and continuously improve performance.

    AI isn’t about taking away the humanity from your business or automating away the things you love. It’s about allowing you to be more human – doing more of the things you’re best at – that give you energy and bring you joy.

  • How Americans Spend Their Money

    I’m sure you remember  James Carville’s famous line, “It's the economy, stupid.”

    Seasons come and go, as do political regimes, but one constant remains: people focus on the economy … and their wallets.

    Recently, my inbox has seen a deluge of wild claims about spending, waste, inflation … and worse.

    This morning,  I saw several sources citing Robert Kiyosaki’s recent warnings of an impending market crash, massive layoffs, depression, and even war.

    Mass market hype aside, I thought it would be interesting to examine these issues and how typical Americans spend their money.

    A quick glance shows that household debt recently approached $18 trillion, and credit card debt surpassed $1 trillion. 

    But, why? 

    The chart below came from VisualCapitalist. It shows “How Americans Spend Their Money.”

     

    How-Americans-Spend-their-Money_website_Jan14via visualcapitalist

    Unsurprisingly, almost half of consumer spending goes toward housing and transportation. 

    While this has slightly outpaced inflation, it hasn’t by much. 

    Meanwhile, spending in some areas surged well beyond wage and overall inflation levels. For example, Americans spend 21% more on food than in 2021. A closer look shows that the cause isn’t just inflation. Food and beverage companies increased their operating profits by 79% from 2019-2023. 

    Educational spending and healthcare spending are also rising.

    How do you think the Trump administration’s actions will impact the economy and the wallets of typical Americans?

    Many of my close friends and advisors are optimistic about the Trump administration’s actions and expected impacts. However, as I’ve often noted regarding technological change, people are good at noticing big turning points – but struggle with predictions about the second and third-order consequences of these shifts.

    How do you see this playing out?

  • Business Lessons from the NFL

    Today was Super Bowl Sunday 2025. As a fan, I found myself rooting for the Philadelphia Eagles today. But at times, I was rooting for Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs out of respect for the talent and the incredible record they’ve compiled.

    Meanwhile, it also made me think about my home team, the Dallas Cowboys, and how long it’s been since we’ve had any real post-season success. 

    Obviously, the Jones family has done many things right. According to Forbes, for the ninth straight year, the Dallas Cowboys are the world’s most valuable sports team, worth an estimated $10.1 billion — the first to cross the 11-figure threshold and $1.3 billion beyond their closest competition.

    They’ve mastered winning in the business sense, even when they struggle on the field.

    Jerry Jones does a lot right in building his “Disney Ride.” However, this post will focus more on what the coaches and players do to win. 

     

    Business Lessons From the NFL

     

    I’m regularly surprised by the levels of innovation and strategic thinking I see in football.

    Football is something I used to love to play. And it is still something that informs my thoughts and actions.

    Some lessons relate to teamwork, while others relate to coaching or management.

    Some of these lessons stem back to youth football … but I still learn from watching games – and even more, from watching Dallas Cowboys practices at The Star. 

    Think about it …  even in middle school, the coaches have a game plan. There are team practices and individual drills. They have a depth chart listing the first, second, and third choices to fill specific roles. In short, they focus on the fundamentals in ways that most businesses don’t.

    The picture below is of my brother’s high school team way back in 1989. While lots have changed since then, much of what we will discuss in this post remains timeless.

     

    Today

     

    Losing to an 8th Grade Team

    The scary truth is that most businesses are less prepared for their challenges than an 8th-grade football team. That might sound disrespectful – but if you think about it … it’s pretty accurate. Here is a short video highlighting what many businesses could learn from observing how organized sports teams operate, particularly in setting goals and effectively preparing for challenges.

    via YouTube.

    If you are skimming, here is a quick summary of the key points in the video.

    Organization and Preparation

    • Structure: Football teams have a clear hierarchy, including a head coach, assistant coaches, and trainers.
    • Practice: Teams engage in regular practice sessions to prepare for games, emphasizing the importance of training.
    • Game Plan: They develop strategies and a game plan before facing opponents, including watching game films to understand their competition.

    Dynamic Strategy

    • Adaptability: Teams adjust their strategies based on the game’s flow, recognizing whether they are on offense or defense.
    • Audibles: Just as a football team may call an audible when faced with unexpected defensive setups, businesses should adapt their strategies in real time.

    Learning From Experience

    • Post-Game Analysis: Coaches review game films to identify what worked and what didn’t, learning from past experiences to improve future performance.
    • Continuous Improvement: Ongoing training is crucial in businesses, similar to how football players receive coaching during practice to enhance their skills.

    Importance of Coaching

    • Role of Coaches: Coaching is crucial for developing talent and focusing on achieving defined goals.
    • Encouragement of Growth: Active coaching leads to better outcomes and overall improvement.

     

    A Deeper Look Into the Lessons

    There is immense value in the structured coaching and preparation that sports teams exemplify. Here are some thoughts to help businesses adopt similar principles that foster teamwork, adaptability, and continuous improvement.

    Vince Lombardi once famously started training camp by announcing, “Gentlemen, this is a football.” He stressed the hidden power of mastering the fundamentals. Beyond that, he believed that how you do something is how you tend to do everything … which led to his famous  quote, “Football is not just a game, but a way of life.”

    So, let’s start at the beginning.

    Football teams think about how to improve each player, how to beat this week’s opponent, and then how to string together wins to achieve a higher goal.   

    The team thinks of itself as a team. They expect to practice. And they get coached.

    In addition, there is a playbook for both offense and defense. And they watch game films to review what went right … and what they can learn and use later.

    Contrast that with many businesses. Entrepreneurs often get myopic … they get focused on today, focused on survival, and they lose sight of the bigger picture and how all the pieces fit together. 

    The amount of thought and preparation that goes into football – which is ultimately a game – is a valuable lesson for business. 

    What about when you get to the highest level? If an 8th-grade football team is equivalent to a typical business, what about the businesses that are killing it? That would be similar to an NFL team. 

    Let’s look at the Cowboys. 

     

    Practice Makes Perfect

    How you do one thing is how you do everything. So, they try to do everything right. 

    Each time I’ve watched a practice session, I’ve come away impressed by the amount of preparation, effort, and skill displayed.

    During practice, there’s a scheduled agenda. The practice is broken into chunks, each with a designed purpose and a desired intensity. There’s a rhythm, even to the breaks.

    Every minute is scripted. There’s a long-term plan to handle the season … but, there was also a focus on the short-term details and their current opponent.

    They alternate between individual and group drills. Moreover, the drills run fast … but for shorter periods than you’d guess. It is bang-bang-bang – never longer than a player’s attention span. They move from drill to drill, working not just on plays but also on skill sets (where are you looking, which foot you plant, how to best use your hands, etc.).

    They use advanced technology to get an edge (including player geolocation monitoring, biometric tracking, medical recovery devices, robotic tackling dummies, and virtual reality headsets). 

    They don’t just film games; they film the practices … and each player’s individual drills. Coaches and players get a personalized cut on their tablets when they leave. It is a process of constant feedback and constant improvement. Everything has the potential to be a lesson. 

     

    Beyond The Snap

    The focus is not just on the players and the team. They focus on the competition as well. Before a game, the coaches prepare a game plan and have the team watch videos of their opponent to understand tendencies and mentally prepare for what will happen.

    During the game, changes in personnel groups and schemes keep competitors on their toes and allow the team to identify coverages and predict plays. If the offense realizes a play has been expected, they call an audible based on what they see in front of them. Coaches from different hierarchies work in tandem to respond faster to new problems. 

    After the game, the film is reviewed in detail. Each person gets a grade on each play, and the coaches make notes for each person about what they did well and what they could do better.

    Think about it … everyone knows what game they are playing … and for the most part, everybody understands the rules and how to keep score (and even where they are in the standings). Even the coaches get feedback based on performance and look to others for guidance. 

    Imagine how easy that would be to do in business. Imagine how much better things could be if you did those things.

    Challenge accepted.

    And, just for fun, here’s a video of me doing a cartwheel after a Dallas Cowboys win.

     

    via YouTube.

    Sports make you do funny things.

    Whether you are watching or playing – Enjoy the game!