The 2021 NFL divisional round was wildly entertaining. Three of the games were decided by a field goal in the closing seconds and the 4th game was pushed to overtime by a field goal. For Packer fans though, it was another weekend of heartbreak. Once again, Green Bay ended an incredible season in crushing fashion. After losing in the NFC Championship game the last two seasons, they had home field advantage throughout the playoffs and perfectly frigid cold weather against a west coast team, in the 49'ers. Yet again, they missed expectations and lost.
Aaron Rodgers will surely go down as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. He’s on his way to a 4th MVP, already holds numerous NFL passing records, has won a Super Bowl, and as no one in Wisconsin will ever forget, confidently tackled the task of filling the shoes of one of the other greatest quarterbacks of all-time, Brett Favre. That task alone was not without controversy. The years leading to Rodger’s draft pick, Favre wasn’t playing as great as he once had but he was still a future hall of famer. While it was clear to see that Rodgers had talent, no one anticipated he’d become what he is today, certainly not Favre. As a result of A-Rod far exceeding even the highest of expectations, Green Bay has now enjoyed 30 years of hall of fame play at the quarterback position. Still, they only have 2 Super Bowls to boast.
There are only 8 QBs in history who have passed for over 50,000 yards. Unsurprisingly, that list includes: Favre, Rodgers, Brees, Roethlisberger, Elway, and both Manning brothers. Sitting 5 yards short of that coveted list, with 49,995 passing yards is a player who up until 2021, would have been considered a talented loser: Matthew Stafford.
Stafford played 12 seasons with the Detroit Lions. 29 of his 34 4th quarter comebacks (which by the way, puts him tied for 5th in history), were with the lovable losing Lions. He’s thrown for more touchdowns than any other Lion’s player and to put that in perspective of how many throwers they’ve had, Detroit just happens to be one of the oldest teams in NFL. Stafford is the winningest QB to ever wear the blue and silver. His win total doubles the next closest person on the list. Unfortunately, the Lions stink and they’ve stunk for a very long time.
It’s been 64 years since they won their last championship in 1957. That’s 10 years before the Superbowl even existed. They have lost a total of 694 games (2nd most all time) and were the first team to go 0–16. Little Matty Stafford was 3 years old when they won their last playoff game; he was 33 when that streak finally ended. For Stafford, that all changed when he finally won his first playoff game. Unfortunately for the Motor City, it just so happened to be with a different team. Before that season, Stafford requested a trade and was happily sent packing across the country to the Los Angeles Rams. The following Sunday, they competed for a Super Bowl appearance. Meanwhile Detroit, led by former Rams quarterback, Jared Goff (who is also very good) are sitting at home, their season done with a record of 3 & 13, with 1 tie.
What does this all mean for you, the corporate desk jockey and zoom monkey searching for your next big company pay-day?
Great talent can be found in losing organizations. Rarely is one superstar enough to resolve ineptitude at scale. Corporations are like sports franchises; they are teams. An individual performer can perform great, but if everyone else around you is either of lesser talent or lesser commitment or simply cursed by deciding factors outside of the field level’s control, then it becomes a question of:
Can you win, when everyone else around you is losing?
One of the greatest players of all-time, Barry Sanders, retired from the NFL after just 10 seasons with the Detroit Lions. He played a punishing position. Running backs aren’t known for their longevity, but there was no sign that Sanders was losing a step either when he walked away. Likely, he was just tired of giving everything he had and continuing to see the same lackluster results. He is a hall of fame player, but he’s also cursed with an invisible asterisk. When people mention Barry Sanders’ name, it’s often followed by some version of ..it’s too bad he played for such bad teams.
So where do you fit in:
I once had a colleague who discouraged me from bringing certain types of opportunities to our business for fear it’d only lead to my disappointment. He said:
"You can uncover those projects day in and day out, there’s certainly a market for it. But after three years here, I can’t tell you how many of those types of deals I’ve brought to the business only to have us lose them in the end. Look elsewhere. There may be other deals that are less exciting to court, but you’ll at least know that you have a chance to win.”
Aaron Rodgers didn’t play great in that game and there are some that question his ability to perform in the playoffs. Anyone who watched the game though, knew that they really lost because of their special teams. Throughout the season, their special teams had mistake after mistake resulting in them being ranked last in the league. So when they had both a field goal and punt blocked in their divisional round, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise. No great team should lose a home field advantage playoff game and a potential trip to the Super Bowl because of a punt. Compare this to the Brett Favre’s only Super Bowl victory, the 1997 championship Packer. In an amazing performance against the New England Patriots, it wasn’t Favre or even Reggie White who won the Superbowl MVP, it was their special teams teammate, Desmond Howard. The ’97 Packers did everything right, from the top down. When it mattered most, it was the little things that helped them seal the deal.
Great organizations don’t lose on the little things. Losing organizations let the little things beat them. Losing organization's let a culture of mediocrity become acceptable. There were many in Green Bay who said they should have fired their special teams coach midway through the 2021 season. Likely though, the Packer brass thought that their best talent (Rodgers, Davante Adams, Aaron Jones) could all overcome the little errors of special teams which had become predictable. Well, they were wrong.
I started my sales career in pharmaceuticals. I called on hundreds of physicians across Wisconsin and northern Illinois for 6 years. I learned about their practices, their patient profiles, their approach to disease management. I developed relationships with the nursing staff, the front office, gatekeepers, the pharmacists and the local managed care plans. I worked for a small company, I had what’s called a me-too drug, meaning there were several name brands which led the drug class. We’d ride their coattails, though we did have some minor differentiators which provided legitimate niche positioning. I made a good living for what I needed at that time, but I certainly wasn’t pulling in the type of results that my competitors were. I kept thinking that I could break through because I was smart, a grinder, and talented. In the end, it was one line from a trusted doctor that I knew, which stays with me to this day.
He said: ‘Sam, you’re a nice guy, you know your stuff, you just need to sell better drugs’. He was politely saying to me:
You’re not a loser, but you’re not going to win either, until you work for a winning franchise.
Have you had these types of conversations with your clients? The heart to hearts when they’ve told you that they’re not moving forward with your contract? They say things like, ‘we loved your approach, we’re happy to be a reference for you in the future, we can’t take away from your sales effort…but today, it’s a no.’ At some point, like Stafford or even Rodgers in this off-season, the question becomes louder:
‘How many more losing seasons do you have left?’
Questions like that, make you start to look around.
There’s no guarantee that making a move will result in your definition of success. There’s business and personal risk on both ends and it’s foolish to ignore that. But it’s hard to turn the voices in our head off, when we start to hear:
‘While I might not be able to win over THERE, I know I can’t win HERE’
The most interesting thing about Stafford is that his stats with the 2021 Los Angeles Rams aren’t that different from what he’d been doing for the previous 12 years. Touchdowns, completions, and passing attempts are all relatively consistent. 2021 Stafford is no better nor worse than 2009–2020 Detroit Lion Matthew Stafford. Maybe it’s the California air, maybe it’s the darker blue jersey, maybe it’s the wisdom of age or a new division. Whatever it is, Matthew Stafford went from potentially being seen 30 years from now as a great player known for losing, to a potential Hall of Fame player or Superbowl winner, in just one year.
Just one season. Just one decision. That could be the difference between winning and losing.
Don’t get me wrong. This is not a call for walking away foolishly from your job or simply giving up with no real plan for what’s next. During the so-called Great Resignation and I respect people for making bold moves with their best interest in mind. They should turn away from toxic working environments or emotionally draining situations that are no longer feeding their inner passions. And despite the title of this article, I don’t actually believe people consciously ‘choose losing’ over winning cultures. Rather, not enough of us are mindful of the choices which could be available when losing becomes the new normal.
That year, with my Packers out of the playoffs, I rooted for the Bengals. I have no loyalty to Cincinnati. I have no real interest other than the fact that I am fascinated by the outliers of change agents that do exist. Joe Burrow sure does seem to be a born winner. He, along with great special teams play, gave Cincinnati their first playoff victory in 31 years.
So who are you?
Take the questions for what their worth. This is just my version of the doctor who told me, ‘you’re a nice guy, you just need to sell better drugs’.
-As always, if you're frustrated with your current position and could use help finding your better, connect with me