Past successes can’t justify future performance
As I write this, Bill Belichick is no longer with the Patriots! After 24 years as their head coach, six Super Bowl titles and numerous successes, the last few years have been rather disappointing. Yet, they announced his departure.
Please let me say, I’ve never played football on any team. I’m only an occasional fan, as there’s far too much advertising for my patience. The average NFL game lasts about three hours, and they tell us the ball is in play for only about 11 minutes. The rest is huddles, instant replays and way too many commercials.
I think of it as a great waste of time.
If I watch a game, usually with friends, I have an iPad or something to get me through the commercials. In any case, I’m no expert on the game or how to coach it. So why would I even attempt to write such an article?
Despite my lack of interest, the media attention has been overwhelming. I would have to live in a cave on some deserted island not to know that, for years, he could do no wrong. He had truly great players and knew how to coach them to one victory after another.
Nothing lasts forever. Players age and retire. Some leave for better opportunities. They still have some good players who may become great over time, but we’ve been spoiled with astounding successes over too many years. The fans can’t seem to get used to this level of play, so something had to be done. Time will tell whether or not it was the right thing.
Do you think this ever happens in industry? Yes, it does all too frequently, but it’s never as well publicized as the Patriots’ fall from grace. Perhaps you’ve run into the phenomenon yourself? Maybe you’ve been doing incredibly well for a number of years and getting one promotion after another. What could go wrong? You might have felt invincible.
All of a sudden, it seems like you’ve lost your Midas touch. Things start going wrong. Many of them may be completely out of your control, but that doesn’t matter. Public perception is everything, and people start thinking you’ve lost your mojo. You may have been highly successful for years, even decades, but suddenly everyone forgets that. “I don’t care about yesterday; what have you done for me today?” Remember Digital Equipment Corporation? It was founded by Ken Olsen, an MIT engineer. He started with 70 employees in 1957 building small computers. DEC grew with phenomenal success to become the second largest computer manufacturer in the world just behind IBM. Many of the early employees became millionaires on their employee stock.
There were Digital facilities all over the world, and an awful lot of them in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Just about everyone had someone in the family or knew somebody that worked for Digital.
They were doing great until Black Monday, Oct. 19, 1987. Total losses that day are estimated at $1.71 trillion. Digital stock had been trading at about $200 a share. We were getting ready for another stock split. By noon time, it was down to about $56 a share. I haven’t seen your house, but I could probably buy several of them for the money I lost that day.
The stock never recovered, and something had to be done. Somehow, they decided Ken Olsen had to go. Despite his decades of leadership successes, all forgotten, he had to go, replaced by a vice president, Bob Palmer. That’s when I decided to leave.
In short order, Palmer managed to sell the company to a small laptop computer manufacturer named Compaq. They kind of ended up with indigestion trying to swallow their giant acquisition, so they got bought by Hewlitt Packard.
Well, that didn’t work out so well either.
HP actually split itself into two companies a few years ago, but the glory days never came back.
Now, I don’t really know if Digital would have survived if they had kept Olsen, nor do I know if the Patriots would win another Super Bowl if they had kept Belichick. The point is our past successes, regardless of how great they may have been, can seldom be used to justify our continued existence. Memories are too short.
Like it or not, somehow, we have to keep producing to ever increasing expectations.
Ronald J. Bourque is a consultant and speaker from Salem. He has had engagements throughout the U.S. and in 12 foreign countries in Europe and the Far East. He can be reached at RonBourque@myfairpoint.net.
