Everyone loves to be a Monday Morning Quarterback—especially after a closely fought Super Bowl—and I’m no exception. My point is this post, however, is not to criticize New England Patriot coach, Bill Belichik; rather, it is to congratulate him.
Now widely overlooked in his team’s stunning loss to the New York Giants was his decision in the third quarter to go for it on 4th & 13 from his team’s 30-yardline instead of kicking a field goal. In retrospect, had he kicked the field goal (which was at the outer range of his kicker’s range), the game might have gone into overtime.
I applaud Belichik’s decision to go for it because I know it wasn’t based on some seat-of-the-pants “gut-feeling.” Instead, it was the result of his reliance on analytics. (For a more thorough discussion of this technology, I’d encourage you to read this article.) And although the “numbers” didn’t work out in this case, one reason his team was undefeated up to that point and in the Super Bowl was because Belichik had consistently relied on analytics throughout the season to make the smartest decision.
Unfortunately for Belichik and the Patriots the numbers don’t always turn out. Still this is no reason not to continue to rely on analytics. Conventional wisdom should be damned and, over time, the law of averages will continue to work in the Patriot’s favor and that’s why I’d expect to see the Patriots back in the Super Bowl next year.
As I say in my book, Jump the Curve, the true Exponential Executive must be willing to “dare to succeed unconventionally.” Belichik has proven that he is willing to do this and, in spite of last night’s outcome, he should be congratulated for sticking to the numbers.
Jack Uldrich is a writer, public speaker and host of jumpthecurve.net. He is the author of seven books, including the forthcoming Jump the Curve and The Next Big Thing is Really Small: How Nanotechnology Will Change the Future of Your Business, and speaks frequently on future trends, innovation, change management, nanotechnology, robotics, RFID technology and executive leadership to the manufacturing and industrial equipment industries.
