Six-Yard Strategy

In the fall of my senior year of high school, our football team, the Berkeley Prep Buccaneers, faced the Glades Central High School Raiders from Belle Glades, Florida in the state semifinals.  This was actually the second year in a row we faced this same team in this same game. In my junior year the outcome was disappointing and we were determined to overcome the Raiders and reach the state championship.

Belle Glades was a very good football team.  In fact, the Raiders claim to have produced more college and professional football players than any other high school in the nation.  The game began as it had the previous year: a defensive battle with neither team able to move the ball effectively.  It was exasperating. We ran play after play that had worked all year against other opponents only to be shut down by the fast, effective Raider defense.  Then we made a mistake: a fumble that the Raiders converted into a field goal. A few minutes later the same thing happened again and we were down 6-0.

As the game wore on our frustration became extreme.  Our offense was bigger and stronger but their defense was faster and executed extremely well.  Our coaches were frustrated too. They sent in every play in our playbook and none of them gained us more than a couple yards -- and some even cost us yards.  And then something changed. They sent in a play we generally only ran on on near the goalline: a play designed to gain short yardage which involved overloading one side of the offensive line and sending several backs in the same direction followed by the ball carrier.  It had a name like “Power I Right, Overstack, 44 Dive” or something. And it worked! We gained six yards.

We went back to the huddle after that play feeling pretty good for the first time all night.  The wide receiver joined us from the sideline, whispered the play to the quarterback, and the quarterback told us the next play, “Power I Right, Overstack, 44 Dive”.  We were going to run the exact same play again! This was strange -- not completely unheard of, but not normal. And it worked again! We gained six more yards.

Once again a wide receiver came into our huddle and yet again the quarterback repeated the play, “Power I Right, Overstack, 44 Dive”.  Now we were a little unsure -- a few heads turned and some dubious glances were quickly exchanged between teammates. But we ran the play that was called and, again, it worked.  We picked up another six yards. The Raiders had no answer for our size and strength when we used it effectively. Their speed and skill were no match for bigger, stronger bodies sent in quantity in a focused direction.  We marched down the field for the first time all night.

We didn’t overcome the Raiders that night.  They went on to the final game and were crowned the state champions.  But I’ve thought about and referred to that night on several occasions over the years during discussions about business strategy.  When Jim Collins wrote about the Hedgehog Concept in his influential book, Good to Great, I smiled.  He had a different, older metaphor in the story of the fox and the hedgehog, but we were talking about the same thing: understanding your strengths and the opponents’ weaknesses and keeping it simple.  Power I Right, Overstack, 44 Dive was our hedgehog strategy and it was good for six yards nearly every time we ran it that night.

Many businesses want an ingenious strategy that enables them to grow quickly and profitably.  Discussions about these strategies are often multi-dimensional and involve changes in the behavior of sales channels and customers.  The projected results of these strategies are generally outstanding -- 80-yard gains in football terms. This is often when I tell the story of a “six-yard strategy” and how running a single play that perfectly leverages a team’s greatest strengths can be the best approach.  On that Friday night in central Florida we were able to repeatedly gain six yards running an ideal play based our greatest strengths. It didn’t matter what the opposing team did. And because we had the audacity to buck conventional wisdom and run that same play over and over and over, we moved steadily down the field.

When it comes to strategy, never forget that, while cleverness is great, effective execution is far greater.  Six yards at a time will win most football games. It might not win you any strategy awards. The fans may not love it.  You’ll probably even get some strange looks from teammates. But marching steadily down the field is goal, agreed? So find your Power I Right, Overstack, 44 Dive and run it every single day.  Godspeed.