Feb
03

In Business, Every Day is the Super Bowl

Post by Jonathan Hammett

Since we have made it a New Year’s resolution at Baltimore Research to maintain a more active blog, I have been brainstorming for good content.  The Republican primaries would be too easy, as every time one of them gets a step ahead, he seemingly falls two steps back.  Besides, we have ten months until the election that matters, so plenty of blogs between now and then to discuss politics.  Plus, would it be in our best interest to spout off political rhetoric on our blog?  Yeah, I did not think so.

Luckily, I am saved by the fact that this weekend, one of the biggest events of the year in American culture is upon us: The Super Bowl.  Emanating from Indianapolis, the game features a rematch from four years ago, pitting the New England Patriots and Tom Brady against the New York Giants and Eli Manning.  The Patriots have a chance to amend the loss suffered to the Giants in Super Bowl XLII, ruining a perfect season.

Could you imagine in life having the chance to confront that which has caused us our greatest defeats?  Being able to retake the English final that scarred us in high school, knowing that the essay would center on early American literature and not contemporary?  Or getting that putt back from last weekend that cost us lunch at the nineteenth hole? 

Well, actually we do.  Every single day.  Not always directly, but we are able to avoid mistakes that become patterns by learning from them.  Why are New Year’s resolutions made?  On the most basic level, they are made to help structure change that will be implemented, hopefully on a daily basis.  So, if we are striving to exercise more frequently, we learned that the previous amount of exercise we were doing was not yielding the desired results.  In theory, learning from the mistake and correcting the pattern.

If the Patriots can learn from that game, understanding what ways they were defeated that day and why, then the possibility of solving the Giants with a better outcome is increased.  Now, there has been turnover in personnel, so it is not black and white as far as solving this problem.  Nevertheless, analyzing schemes and coverages and comparing that data will yield the beginnings of a formula for potentially solving that problem.  As they are able to identify what mistakes helped contribute to that loss, they can correct them and target a different outcome.

So, we are not looking at the Super Bowl as a game per se, but as a chance to learn and grow from our miscalculations.  Every day we make resolutions as we resolve to correct problems.  An example is making ourselves more available to clients to understand their needs and wants.  This can be born out of simply missing a phone call at lunch.  By following up with an email rather than a call, we inadvertently convey that their needs have not been prioritized.    They are looking to feel that their concerns are important and being addressed as such.  If we strive each day to remember that we want each client to know we share their vision and goals, we have resolved to make each one feel as important as we can.

As the Patriots and Giants start to game plan, they need not lose sight of what has been invaluable thus far; and that is remembering everything they have done to get here.  I am not suggesting they live on their reputations, but they cannot change the course so drastically that they become lost.  Similarly, we are always looking to add new partners in business to expand our current model.  Adding to that model is great, and diversifying that model by embracing change and adopting a flexible attitude is many times a must.  But to completely change what has brought you to the dance just to appeal to someone or something new is not advised.  I do not think we will see anything so drastic in the Super Bowl that we will not recognize the participants.  Nor should we so drastically change our approach just to land a new client in a way that makes us unrecognizable to our current client base. 

So, one thing Ted Donnelly left off in the first blog of 2012 was the mission and resolution here at Baltimore Research to evolve daily.  As we individually evolve and learn each day, coupled with our resolve to learn from our own mistakes, we are setting a course for this year to truly confront past letdowns and forge ahead with a winning solution.  We are allowing ourselves to change constantly while adhering to the values that have set this company apart. 

Just like the Patriots and Giants must strive personally and collectively to achieve their goal of winning a Super Bowl, we are striving to deliver the results that we always have to our  clients and demonstrate our winning formula to our new clients.  This will be achieved each day, each week and each year by a renewed focus on bettering ourselves individually and sharing and growing as a team. 

So, who wins the Super Bowl?  If I knew that, well, I would not be writing this.  But I can say we will make sure all of our clients leave our game field as winners this year and beyond.  And who knows, maybe we will all exercise a little bit more as well.