Summary: I like an easy read as much as the next guy, but every now and then I really enjoy reading something that challenges me; something I can sink my teeth into and expand my understanding of a new subject. Imagine my delight then, when I came across a book that taught me about the NFL Football world and Wall Street investing (two areas I know very little about... at least in any level of detail). Roger Martin (author of The Opposable Mind and The Design of Business) has taken these two seemingly disparate institutions and woven a fantastic message about the importance of focusing on the tangible, real-world in front of us... and the danger of instead choosing to focus on the siren song of short term profitability. Golden Egg Who are you playing for? "In short, a real-market orientation creates individual and societal good, while an expectations orientation creates a downward spiral that threatens both individual well-being and the health of our economy." Fixing the Game, page 34 A quick lesson to get you up to speed: Professional football exists in two worlds. First, you have the "on-field," 60 minute game. This is the "real world" game, one where two teams compete for a real victory. All round, the sport creates real value: fans are entertained enough to feel their money was well spent, players get paid, owners make money, and the organization thrives. We call this a positive-sum game - value is created. The other, darker world of professional football (and most sports for that matter) exists for the gamblers. The gambling world is a zero-sum game - one person wins when another person loses. Martin is quick to point out that this is not a book against the evils of gambling. It is, however, a book about the nature of betting, the manipulations that attempt to "balance" the odds... and the devastating impact such a mentality can have when it bleeds over into the corporate world. In professional sports, balancing the odds through what's known as a point spread is an accepted part of the gambling game. In essence, a point spread means that if a game has a spread of 10.4 points, the favored team needs to win the game by at least 10.4 points for it to be considered a true win for the gamblers. Even if you're not a football fan, you'll likely recall the 2007 perfect season (16-0) for the New England Patriots, lead by MVP Quarterback, Tom Brady. What most of us aren't aware of is that, as Brady continued to lead his team to victory after victory and speculators began to believe they'd never lose, the point spread that Brady had to beat grew to remarkable heights. So massive were the point spreads that the Pats only beat the odds 10 out of 16 times that season. Speculation grew at such an exaggerated rate that, despite playing a perfect season, there was no way the Patriots could beat the expectations market forever. In the business world, we call this expectations market "The Stock Market". And, as Martin brilliantly illustrates, the business world could do with some of the legislation that the professional football world has adopted. GEM # 1 Have your cake, and cash in on it, too "As J&J, P&G, Apple and the NFL so aptly demonstrate, if you take care of your customers, shareholders will be drawn along for a very nice ride." Fixing the Game, page 85 Imagine for a second that Tom Brady was betting on the games he was playing in (an act which is completely illegal, for the record). Looking at the impossible point spreads against him and his team, do you think he might have played differently? Do you think he might have taken a dive one game; bringing the point spread back down to a reasonable level for the next game? True Brady fans would argue that there's no way their hero would even consider such tactics, but you've got to imagine the pressure that he would be under in such a situation. What if his financial contract was 10% of what it actually is,
