The success the New England Patriots has had over just under the last 2 decades is rare in modern sports. Not only 6 Super Bowls, but 9 overall appearances in the big game and being a perennial contender in an age of free agency with only a few variables common. It is an accomplishment that has won them both praise and scorn, with both sometimes coming from the same people.

So how did it happen? If you have been a reader here at The Hot Iron for a while, you will know I am a Patriots fan, going back decades, and once co-owned one of the Patriots’ first fan Web sites. It wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows for this football franchise. The fact that Monday Night Football wouldn’t hold games at their former stadium for years because of gunfire in the parking lot is one glaring example. But things changed – namely a new owner, coach and quarterback – and there’s the success we have today.

It didn’t happen overnight, and with the new owner it all didn’t fall into place right away either. This is the topic of The Blueprint: How the New England Patriots Beat the System to Create the Last Great NFL Superpower by Christopher Price. It gives a surprisingly detailed account of what led to their first Super Bowl and the next several seasons which followed it. Even for a true blue (and silver) fan as myself, I had some takeaways from this book.

I forgot a lot of details – Price goes into great detail in this book, and there were many facts and events that even I, someone who lived in the Boston area at the time of their first Super Bowl, didn’t remember. One glaring example was that at the end of the 2000 season, the season before their first Super Bowl win, they cut both Bruce Armstrong and Troy Brown. This was part of Bill Belichick’s “blueprint” for not paying players too much. Both were eventually resigned, albeit for lower salaries, and earned rings the following season.

Keep moving forward – If you don’t succeed, try, try again. This cliché phrase is really the mantra of the team. When new owner Bob Kraft hired Bill Parcells he had player personnel managed by someone else, Bobby Grier, which led to Parcells leaving after losing in Super Bowl XXXI. Kraft learned from this when he hired Belichick as coach, and Grier was fired. Belichick is famous for saying “On to (insert next opponent here)” meaning the last game is in the past, and they have to focus on winning the next one.

More than just a blueprint – If the success of the Patriots could truly be in blueprint form, then why haven’t other teams followed it? In order to execute on the blueprint, a team has to have the mindset and people to follow it. This is in itself a challenge, as it goes against how most teams in the league are managed. For example, having a head coach with full authority is not common, as most teams have a general manager or other role that is the true leader of what happens on the field. Many teams – and their owner’s egos – would have a hard time with this, no matter the sport.

Early on I mentioned The Blueprint only covered a few seasons after the Patriots’ first championship, and that’s because it came out in 2007, and now 12 years later I am reading and writing about it. Where I don’t exactly recall where I got it, I imagine it was sent to me by a publisher back in the day when I used to read more and write about those books more. Despite the dozen years that have passed since its words first hit paper, Price’s book is still a great read, especially for those who love deep details on sports. This book is now in the hands of a friend who sat next to me at many Patriots games.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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Have you ever been in a situation where you had a hunch about something but weren’t quite sure of it, only for someone to come along and not only reaffirm your hunch but get into details you wish you had not known?

How about this happening to you more than once?

These situations are what I refer to as “JFK Movie park bench moments.” They have happened a couple of times in my career, and I’d like to share these here.

But first, the movie scene

If you have no idea of what I am talking about, let me explain. JFK is a movie starring Kevin Costner and directed by Oliver Stone that came out in 1991. It was about the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy through the eyes of the District Attorney of New Orleans, Louisiana, Jim Garrison.

When Garrison discovers a possible connection to JFK’s murder in New Orleans and his investigation goes public, he travels to Washington, DC to meet someone called “X,” played eerily by Donald Sutherland. They meet around the Washington Mall and sit on a park bench where X proceeds to tell Garrison that not only is he on the right track with his investigation, but provides details about it that are almost too incredible to believe. Of course when Garrison asks X to testify in his trial he says no.

Fast forward a few years

I always remembered that scene from the movie as was so unique – 2 men, sitting alone on a park bench away from – but close to – so many, with one learning the “straight dope” of what led to JFK being shot in Dallas, Texas from the other. This scene came back to me a couple of times in my career after first seeing the movie, when I found out about truths about jobs I had that, in both cases, convinced me to leave before I would have been terminated!

The Numbers and People Lie

After finishing a long-term consulting project with a firm I was working for, I went back to the firm’s office on a weekend to take care of some paperwork. When I printed a few things I grabbed the printouts from the printer only to also get some reports left on the printer by someone else. Among them was a revenue report showing me at the top of the report. Where one’s ego might be stroked to see that, my hourly rate was extremely low for the senior role I had managing the project I just left. Further down on the report were many people who were not bringing in any revenue at all.

Was all I heard about how well the firm was doing a lie? The next week I went to lunch with another consultant at the firm. Armed with the knowledge of this revenue report but not wanting to disclose it, over the meal I asked him how he thought the firm was doing. Thank goodness I have a strong stomach, as I would have tossed it up my lunch after our conversation. The modest cafeteria we were in served as the park bench and grassy for my JFK movie moment as he told me what he knew about the vitality of the firm.

This was eye opening, shocking, yet gave me a great calm in the next steps I took to leave the firm, which I did a few months later. Another six or so months after I left, the firm itself shuttered, leaving some smart people caught in a reaction to my earlier pro-action, scooped up by other lucky companies soon after.

Building the ship while it is sailing is not a good idea

Later in my career I took a leadership role on a high-profile project for an international firm. As one of the first people to join the project team, I not only had the good fortune to be able to build my own team from the ground up, but was involved in much of the interviewing across the project, helping to ensure people who joined would work well in our culture.

Early on I met with one of the senior leaders of the team, who gave an analogy in describing what we were doing that I would never forget, as he said we were “building the ship while it is sailing.” Where initially I saw this as a great opportunity, this feeling waned over time as I felt those sailing and building were far from being in sync.

There were a few managers on the project I got to know – some better than others, and one night as I was departing the office I ran into one of the managers I knew well. We chatted a bit, then felt a local pub would be a better venue to continue our conversations. After a few beverages and some good food we departed for home heading in the same direction. He was staying in a corporate apartment in a place I could never afford.

He invited me to check out said apartment and to continue our conversations. I sat in an oversized leather chair, he poured a couple of glasses of Hennessey, placed the bottle down, and then I sensed another JFK movie park bench moment in the making. He proceeded to reaffirm a lot of the concerns I had on the project, and blew me away with the history and politics of the project, and his projections for where it was going to go. Needless to say that bottle of Hennessey didn’t last long as the tales of international intrigue flew around the room.

But like before, as uncomfortable as it was to hear, it was exactly what I needed to hear. The next morning, as bleary eyed as I was, I started my quest for a new gig which I landed a few months later. Sadly within a year the whole project was shutdown, after a tumultuous ride for the dedicated team that stuck around through it all.

Deconstructing JFK Movie Park Bench Moments

Life has many mysteries. Some of them we find out, but many we go to our grave never knowing the real story of what went on. Whether or not what X was telling Garrison in the movie was completely true or not – and we may never know either way for sure – the drama of the moment stands out and can be a catalyst for action. For Jim Garrison it was to pursue the truth of the JFK murder, for me it was to find new jobs. What could it be for you?

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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Happy New Year 2019 from Mike Maddaloni!

Pictured is New Years Eve fireworks over Blackjack Mountain in Bessemer, Michigan.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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To those who believe, Merry Christmas!

To those who do not, have a great Tuesday!

Pictured is the Christmas Eve mass at St. Bernadette Church in Appleton, Wisconsin.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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dMorning is an informal networking meetup event for people who work in the tech and creative fields in and around Northeast Wisconsin.

Our next event will be on Friday, December 14, 2018, from 7:30 – 9:30 am at the new offices of Dealer Inspire, 423 West College Avenue, Appleton, WI 54911. Dealer Inspire is an innovative, scrappy disruptor building unprecedented websites and technology to help car dealerships sell more. Special thanks to Dealer Inspire for hosting our next event!

Though there's no cost, please RSVP – you can do so with Eventbrite or Meetup.

dMorning was started to provide a casual environment for those who work in the technology and creative fields in Northeast Wisconsin to meet, network and have a beverage of choice. The idea is to meet in the morning before the day gets hectic. There are no set rules and no agenda. More information is available at dMorning.com.

Hope to see you there!

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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