My home town, Indianapolis, has been on fire about the NCAA college basketball Final Four and the amazing run of the home-town favorite Butler University “Bulldogs,” the smallest school to be included in the 64 contestants in the NCAA tournament. A small school in serious contention for the national championship s definitely on a whale hunt!
If you follow college basketball, you know that Butler lost by only 2 points to Duke for the national championship. It was an intensely close battle which either team might have one. And both teams could leave the arena with heads held high.
But in the media coverage during the NCAA tournament, during which Butler’s amazing run was chronicled, there are very pertinent lessons for whale hunters.
- Process–Design a process, teach it to everyone, follow it consistently, improve it continually. They call it “The Butler Way.”
- Scout–Coach Brad Stevens takes all the time he needs to understand how the next opponent it going to come at Butler. He researches their history and their typical game plan.
- Plan–The coaching staff define a specific game plan based on the Scouting research. This plan is communicated to the players and forms the basis of their preparation.
- Rehearse–Time and again, Butler players said they knew exactly how the game would play out. Based on their coach’s understanding, they could visualize how the game would go.
- Execute–The Butler plan was a defensive game. They held four opponents to fewer than 60 points. Dick Vitale predicted “They won’t hold Duke to 60 points!” He was right–they only held Duke to 61.
Congratulations to the Blue Devils on their win, and congratulations to the Bulldogs on a fantastic run, proving once again that small does not mean powerless. That’s true in sports and it’s definitely true in sales process and business development.
