5 business lessons from Belichick's 4th down decision

Bill Belichick's decision not to punt on a 4th and 2 from his own 28 with 2 minutes to go during Sunday's game against Indianapolis has been THE topic of conversation here in New England for the last 2 days. Setting aside the unsuccessful results of the play, there are some lessons that can learned when looking at his decision, and the resulting media fallout.

1. If you don't like the rules to the game, don't play by them

Football is a game that follows a conservative structure. There are deviations and allowances for risk within the structure (run/pass rations, trick plays, etc.), but most teams play by similar basic strategies. Bill Belichick thought that playing within the established conventions (i.e. punting on 4th down from his own territory) would lead to failure, so he decided to buck convention and send his offense back out for 4th down.

This type of flexible thinking is valuable in business. Can't respond to an RFP? Work with your customer to change their requirements. See an opportunity to expand into a new space? What says you can't shift strategies and go for the win? Malcolm Gladwell wrote a tremendous article in the New Yorker on this topic.

2. Play to you strengths

By punting the ball Belichick would put the game in the hands of Peyton Manning, the Colts' best player. By going for it on 4th down the game was in the hands of Tom Brady, the Patriots' best player.

Similar to the first point, why compete on a level or negatively slanted playing field? This is one reason niche businesses are so successful; by "owning a space" you are forcing the competition to meet you at your strongest point.

3. Empower your employees

Belichick made his decision knowing that the NFL rarely rewards risk, and often punishes coaches for deviating from established wisdom. Bob Kraft, the owner of the Patriots has clearly created a situation where his employees are empowered to make difficult and risky decisions without fear of disproportionate retribution. Kraft understands the need to delegate responsibilities to his specialists, and allow them the autonomy to do what they think is best.

4. Wait before judging

The immediate reaction to Belichick's decision was extremely negative. All of the televised experts were incredulous, and some were calling it the worst decision they'd ever seen.

A day later a blog called Advanced NFL Stats ran the numbers, and found that by punting the Patriots would win 70% of the time, and by not punting they would win 79% of the time. While there is room for discussion about the numbers, at worst both options were equivalent, and at best Belichick gave the Patriots a better chance to win with his decision.

In business we have strong reactions to new ideas all the time, and pressure to come to immediate decisions. There are times when the appropriate decision is to wait, delve deeper into the facts, and only decide once a clear, emotion free understanding of the situation has been established.

5. High profile mistakes overshadow more important mistakes

Everyone talks about the big, high profile mistake. Nobody talks about the hundred other plays or decisions that go into determining the outcome of a game.

Many companies have a similar focus. Did you not make a sales number because a huge deal fell out at the end, or did you not make it because your team wasn't doing the day-to-day activity to fill its pipeline? Did your employee quit because of an argument with a boss, or did she quit because of a poor work environment? Often times enough focus on the minutia makes the bigger decisions less important.

Please leave comments if anything jumps out at you!