Capitalogix

Starting With Why

Ideas don’t have to be complex to be valuable. Twice this week, I heard someone say, “Start with Why.” As a tech entrepreneur, I often ignore that aphorism.  Someone who embodies it (and made it famous) is Simon Sinek.  He is a motivational speaker and organizational consultant who gained widespread recognition after his 2009 TED Talk, “How Great Leaders Inspire Action,” which remains one of the most-viewed TED Talks ever, with almost 70 million views. This talk introduced his core framework: The Golden Circle, the concept that catapulted him to fame. It is a simple but powerful model for understanding why some leaders and organizations inspire while others don’t. It consists of three concentric circles, like a bullseye. At the center is Why, the middle ring is How, and the outermost ring is What.

Most people and organizations focus on the outermost circle first—what they do—and then work inward. Sinek flips this approach, arguing that great leaders and companies start from the inside out: start with Why. Why Start with Why? Here’s an analogy: Think of a magnet. The strongest force comes from its core. Similarly, in leadership and business, the Why is your core—it’s what attracts people to you. It’s not just about selling a product; it’s about sharing a belief or vision that resonates emotionally with others. For example: Apple doesn’t just sell computers (What). They believe in challenging the status quo and thinking differently (Why). Their How—innovative design and user-friendly technology—flows naturally from this belief. Martin Luther King Jr. didn’t say, “I have a plan.” He said, “I have a dream.” His Why inspired millions because it connected with their values and emotions. The Biological Connection Sinek ties this idea to how our brains work. The outer layer of the brain (the neocortex) processes logical information like facts and figures (What), but decisions are driven by the limbic brain, which controls emotions and instincts (Why). When you lead with Why, you speak directly to people’s feelings, inspiring trust and loyalty. Simplified Takeaway Think of it like this: If you want people to join your cause or buy into your vision, don’t just tell them what you’re selling or how great it is. Tell them why it matters—to you and to them. Starting with Why connects hearts before minds, creating a lasting impact. In short, the Golden Circle isn’t just a business strategy; it’s a way to inspire action by leading with purpose. I met Simon through friends before his first book came out. Then, in 2009, he gave a speech to the Dallas Chapter of EO, and then visited my office to speak with our team afterwards.  I still remember how well-received he was. It was right at the beginning of his meteoric rise, two short months after the release of his famous book "Start With Why." Here's the article I wrote in 2009 after that visit:

___________________

Inspiration is stronger than persuasion.  It gives people a sense of purpose and belonging that has little to do with external incentives or benefits.

Simon Sinek, who is quite charismatic and well-spoken, is delivering this message to a rapidly growing fan base. 

My team thought Simon was inspiring, engaging, and insightful.

You can watch a short video that introduces his material below. 

In addition, you can explore more of his ideas in his book, Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action.

 

An Example of Finding the Right Person for a Job.

Who do you believe will do a better job, someone who takes a job because of the salary and benefits ... or someone truly inspired to accomplish the job's purpose? 

Phrased that way, of course, you know the answer.  Still, how can you leverage this to better select customers and employees?

For example, Simon uses the story of Sir Ernest Shackleton to illustrate this concept.  Shackleton was preparing to lead the first expedition across Antarctica in 1914.  Legend has it that when seeking crew members for his journey, Shackleton placed the following ad in a newspaper:

"MEN WANTED FOR HAZARDOUS JOURNEY. SMALL WAGES, BITTER COLD, LONG MONTHS OF COMPLETE DARKNESS, CONSTANT DANGER, SAFE RETURN DOUBTFUL. HONOUR AND RECOGNITION IN CASE OF SUCCESS.
     -  SIR ERNEST SHACKLETON"

When the expedition became stuck in the ice and could not be rescued for 22 months, not a single man was lost.  The reason Simon gave for their unlikely survival was that Shackleton hired survivors that could deal with the situation and were aligned with the mission and purpose.

Can you imagine writing an ad like that to attract the right people to your cause?

Watch This Video.

Here is a video of Simon speaking at a TED Conference.  It is an excellent intro to his stuff. 

Other Resources:

• Here is a link to Simon's Blog.  (2023 Note: this now links to his old blog, which is poorly formatted but interesting to see.  His new website/blog can be found here.)
• Here is a link to Videos of Simon.
• Here is a link to an article on why to know someone else's Why.  (PDF Version)
• Here is a link to Simon's Book: Start with Why.

_____________________

It's now more than ten years later, and Simon is one of the most prominent leaders in leadership development and has published five books, to much acclaim. 

Part of his success is the charisma and pith with which Simon speaks and writes - but a large part is his focus on what makes humans human.  He's not preaching a leadership mantra focused on the bottom line and revenue; he's focused on the aspects of human nature that don't change.  He's focused on purpose and the elements of leadership that apply to everyone - not just CEOs. 

As we move into an era of increased volatility – both in markets and business - these leadership principles will become more important. 

Understanding your "WHY" is vital if you want to make a difference (and not be replaced by an AI). It’s also vital in making discipline the easier choice.

If you haven't read any of his books, they're all good, but I suggest "Start With Why" and "The Infinite Game."

Most people and organizations focus on the outermost circle first—what they do—and then work inward. Sinek flips this approach, arguing that great leaders and companies start from the inside out: start with Why.

Why Start with Why?

Here’s an analogy: Think of a magnet. The strongest force comes from its core. Similarly, in leadership and business, the Why is your core—it’s what attracts people to you. It’s not just about selling a product; it’s about sharing a belief or vision that resonates emotionally with others.

For example:

• Apple doesn’t just sell computers (What). They believe in challenging the status quo and thinking differently (Why). Their How—innovative design and user-friendly technology—flows naturally from this belief.
• Martin Luther King Jr. didn’t say, “I have a plan.” He said, “I have a dream.” His Why inspired millions because it connected with their values and emotions.

The Biological Connection

Sinek ties this idea to how our brains work. The outer layer of the brain (the neocortex) processes logical information like facts and figures (What), but decisions are driven by the limbic brain, which controls emotions and instincts (Why). When you lead with Why, you speak directly to people’s feelings, inspiring trust and loyalty.

Simplified Takeaway

Think of it like this: If you want people to join your cause or buy into your vision, don’t just tell them what you’re selling or how great it is. Tell them why it matters—to you and to them. Starting with Why connects hearts before minds, creating a lasting impact.

In short, the Golden Circle isn’t just a business strategy; it’s a way to inspire action by leading with purpose.

I met Simon through friends before his first book came out.

Then, in 2009, he gave a speech to the Dallas Chapter of EO, and then visited my office to speak with our team afterwards.  I still remember how well-received he was. It was right at the beginning of his meteoric rise, two short months after the release of his famous book "Start With Why."

Here's the article I wrote in 2009 after that visit:

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.

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.

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.

 

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

• After 17 years of research, Microsoft has announced a massive breakthrough in quantum computing, resulting in a new state of matter and their new Majorana 1 chip. 
• Google announced its new AI co-scientist to help accelerate research for scientists ... and it's already finding novel breakthroughs on decade-long problems.  
• xAI released Grok 3, a significant advancement in the reasoning and performance of their LLM and a competitor to other top models like DeepSeek-R1. 
• Clone Robotics unveiled a video of "ProtoClone," a faceless musculoskeletal android robot with 1000 muscles and over 200 degrees of freedom.
• Nvidia and Arc Institute launched a new AI Bio model - Evo 2 - trained on over 100k species. This doesn't just analyze genomes ... it creates them. 
• Sakana.AI introduced the AI CUDA Engineer, an agentic AI system that automates the production of CUDA kernels 10-100x faster than with common machine learning,
• Claude announced their intention to include reasoning and web search in Claude 4.
• France sustained a Nuclear Fusion plasma reaction for 1,337 seconds - a 25% improvement over the previous record. 

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. 

 

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.

Your Three Word Strategy

A few years ago, I shared a presentation called Mindset Matters that I had given to a small mastermind group.

This past week, I briefly revisited that content in a different group. It reminded me that some ideas are “Timeless” and worth revisiting. 

So, my hope is that this post sparks some interesting ideas and discussions.  

Energy Is One of the Most Important Things to Measure.

One of my core beliefs is that energy is one of the most important things we can measure.

I believe it so strongly I paid Gaping Void to put it on my wall.

 

via GapingVoid

It means exactly what it sounds like – but probably also a lot more than that.

On a personal level, energy affects how you feel, what you focus on (and what you make that mean), and, consequently, what you choose to do. That means it is a great way to measure your values, too. 

On a business level, energy impacts more than you might recognize. It has a lot to do with who you hire and fire, where you spend your time, the target markets or segments you pursue, and even your company’s long-term vision.

 

Ultimately, if something brings profit and energy, it is probably worth pursuing. 

 

In contrast, fighting your energy is one of the quickest ways to burn out. Figuring out who and what to say “no” to is crucial to estaying on track and reachingyour goals. This is where mindset and mindset scales apply.

 

Mindset Matters.

Watch this short video on Mindset Scales. It’s packed with insights and tools you can use as targets and filters.

 

Subscribe to Howard Getson’s YouTube Channel

The video highlights the critical role that specific values and mindsets play in business success. It goes over a few easy exercises (including how to create a Mindset Scale) to help identify and assess the path to desired outcomes.

One of the techniques I’ve developed is called the “Three Word Strategy”. It’s based on the idea that people, capabilities, products, and even companies can be described in a three-word strategy (think of it as a “recipe for success”). By understanding this process, you not only can help choose the right people, but it might also help to create the right technology to achieve that (think of this as a digital WHO to do the HOW) in a way that helps and supports the humans involved in the process.

 

Three-Word Strategies.

I believe that words have power. Specifically, the words you use to describe your identity and your priorities change your reality. 

First, some background. Your Roles and Goals are nouns. That means “a person, place, or thing.” Let’s examine some sample roles (like father, entrepreneur, visionary, etc.) and goals (like amplified intelligence, autonomous platform, and sustainable edge). As expected, they are all nouns. 

Next, we’ll examine your default strategies.   You use these to create or be the things you want. The strategies you use are verbs. That means they define an action you take. Action words include: connect, communicate, contribute, collaborate, protect, serve, evaluate, curate, share … and love. On the other end of the spectrum, you could complain, retreat, blame, or block.

People have habitual strategies. I often say happy people find ways to be happy – while frustrated people find ways to be frustrated. This is true for many things.

Seen a different way, people expect and trust that you will act according to how they perceive you.

Meanwhile, you are the most important perceiver. Think about that for a moment!

Another distinction worth making is that the nouns and verbs we use range from timely to timeless. Timely words relate to what you are doing now. Timeless words are chunked higher and relate to what you have done, what you are doing, and what you will do.

The trick is to chunk high enough to focus on words that link your timeless Roles, Goals, and Strategies. When done right, you know that these are a part of what makes you … “You”.  

My favorite way to do this is through three-word strategies. 

These work for your business, priorities, identity, and more. 

I’ll introduce the idea to you by sharing my own to start. 

Understand. Challenge. Transform. 

The actual words are less important than what they mean to me. 

What’s also important is that not only do these words mean something to me, but I’ve put them in a specific order, and I’ve made these words “commands” in my life. They’re specific, measurable, and actionable. They remind me what to do. They give me direction. And, together, they are a strategy (or process) that creates a reliable result.

First, I understand, because I want to make sure I consider the big picture and the possible paths from where I am to the bigger future possibility that I want. Then, I challenge situations, people, norms, and more. I don’t challenge to tear down. I challenge to find strengths … to figure out what to trust and rely upon. Finally, I transform things to make them better. Insanity is doing what you always do and expecting a different result. This is about finding where small shifts create massive consequences. It is about committing to the result rather than how we have done things till now.

If I challenged before I knew the situation, or I tried to transform something without properly doing my research, I’d risk causing more damage than good. 

Likewise, imagine the life of someone who protects, serves, and loves. Compare that to the life of someone who loves, serves, and protects. The order matters!

One more, just to get you thinking about it ... Connect, Engage, Contribute!

There is an art and a science to it. But it starts by taking the first step. 

Try to find your three words.

Once you do, remember to use them. Over time, I’ve set daily alarms on my phone to remind me of them. I use them when I’m in meetings (to help orient, reflect, or inspire), and I often use them to evaluate whether I’m showing up as my best self. 

You can also create three words that are different for the different hats you wear, the products in your business, or how your team collaborates. 

 

Finding Your Three Words 

Everyone feels a range of emotions. It helps if you can express them. This emotional word wheel might help. It isn’t exhaustive ... but it should give you some ideas.

 

via FlowingData

Like recipes, these three-word strategies have ingredients, orders, and intensities. As you use your words more, the intensities might change. For example, when my son was just getting out of college, one of his words was contented because he was focused on all the things he missed from college - instead of being appreciative of the things he had. Later, his words switched to grateful and then loving. These evolutions coincided with his personal journey ... and represented his ability and desire to take stronger actions.

Realize that we create what we want by doing. As such, choose words that inform or spark the right actions. You can see that in my son’s words. As he grew, he became more comfortable actively prompting the actions he wanted to approach life with instead of just passively hoping for a feeling. 

You can apply these simple three-word strategies almost everywhere once you learn how to create them. 

It’s your life. It’s your choice.

What are your words?

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.

 

 

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!

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - February 9th, 2025

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.

Lighter Links:

• OpenAI's Deep Research Smashes Records for the World's Hardest AI Exam, With ChatGPT O3-Mini and DeepSeek Left in Its Wake. (TechRadar)
• You Can Try DeepSeek’s R1 Through Perplexity—without the Security Risk. (FastCompany)
• The Recruitment Effort that Helped Build Elon Musk’s DOGE Army. (Wired)
• Humans are Evolving Before Our Eyes on the Tibetan Plateau. (ScienceAlert)
• How to Naturally Boost Your Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, and Endorphins. (FastCompany)

 

 

Trading Links:

• The True Cost of a Super Bowl Ad? You Don’t Want to Know. (FastCompany)
• Trump Says America Was at Its Richest in the Late 1800s. Is That True? (MarketWatch)
• The “5 Types of Wealth”: Why You’re Wealthier Than You Think. (BigThink)
• America’s Most Generous Philanthropists 2025. (Forbes)
• Why the AI World is Suddenly Obsessed With a 160-Year-Old Economics Paradox. What Is It – And What Does It Mean Today? (NPR)

 

 

Happy Birthday, Mom

Yesterday was my Mother's 85th birthday. 

Her children surprised her with over 60 family and friends at dinner last night. Here is a photo of us with her at the party.

My mom is quite the woman. She went to Cornell, taught Spanish Literature at Temple University, and has volunteered for countless good causes. At 40, as her kids became more self-sufficient, she decided to go to law school and become a lawyer to help those who needed it most. That doesn't even begin to capture it! For example, she still serves as a museum docent and is an active member of many clubs and organizations. In addition, after my Dad died, she chose to serve as a hospice counselor to help families going through that difficult time. After doing that for a while, she decided that she wanted to continue – but in a more positive way. So, to help make things better and easier to bear, she became a clown to bring light to people struggling. That is not a sentence I imagined writing a few years ago.

My mom also loves poems, wordplay, and puzzles.

As part of her celebration, we had everyone (OK, almost everyone) write poems for her. 

I did not write a poem (though I did write something) ... and I also chose not to use ChatGPT (or any other large language model) to help with what I wrote. 

I feel like I should explain that. What I did write, came from the heart.

If my goal had simply been to come up with a poem, I would have used ChatGPT or one of its competitors. The truth is, many people at the event did exactly that, and I was surprised at the quality of their output.

With that said, there's something meaningful about the process of thinking deeply about something (in this case, my Mother) and choosing which things to highlight (or set aside), what to poke fun at, and which things to express gratitude for. The act of thinking and writing is valuable ... separate and apart from the output generated.

The same is true for your life as well. Being and Doing are both important. 

Your identity and strategies combine to create the life you are living. Said a different way, the things you choose to focus on (and what you make them mean) shape your perspective and guide your actions. 

That is also why it's vitally important to consciously create a compelling future that calls you forward (and keep score by tracking your progress in ways that resonate with your values).

Here is a small excerpt from my love note to my Mother.

The Golden rule says “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” But sometimes, it’s important to remember to be as kind to yourself as you are to others.

As I think about you and what I wish for you, Mom, it’s that you’re as kind and understanding to yourself as you’ve been to those around you.

It’s important to recognize the progress you’ve made with the good you’ve done, rather than what could have or should have happened - or how many things you still feel the need to do.

I think one of the most useful definitions of “intelligence” is that it is the ability to get more of what you want - and for you, Mom, I think that is a sense of happiness, contentment, and purpose. In your words - a Happy Heart.

Happy Birthday, Mom … and many more! 

I suspect we all know the power of purpose. With a big enough WHY, the HOWs don't seem to matter.

The average age at this party was probably 80 – and at least one of them was 100! Think how important it is for them to have a sense of purpose and accomplishment!!

But if it is important for them ... it is probably more important to you because of something I call The Time Value of Life (which we'll discuss next week).

Carl Sagan's Foresight from 1996

Carl Sagan was an astronomer and planetary scientist whose most enduring legacy lies in his extraordinary ability to communicate complex ideas to the general public.

Shortly before his death, he participated in an oddly prescient interview about short-form media and public attention. It is worth clicking to hear his clear thoughts about how governments will use ignorance of science and technology to control people.

 

via YouTube

He goes into more detail about this topic in his book, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark."

“I have a foreboding of an America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time—when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness ... the dumbing down of America is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30 second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance."  - Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World

With the national outcry at TikTok's ban being upheld in the Supreme Court, this feels even more relevant. 

With TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, even 30 seconds of attention sounds generous. Smooth-sounding AI-generated slop only makes it worse.

In many ways, we've even forgotten how to be appropriately skeptical. It's not enough to question authority and look for trusted evidence; you must also question their detractors and replacements. Laziness and ignorance rarely lead to good outcomes.

There is room in life for faith, optimism, and belief. But when you question what's being pushed toward you, how influenced are you by your existing biases and beliefs? It's hard to reason someone out of a position that they did not reason themselves into. 

Do you think America is becoming more or less ignorant? If more, what do you think it would take to reverse that trend?