As the Arizona Diamondbacks were preparing for the 2011 baseball season, they were coming off a 2010 last-place finish in the National League West Division.  Their new manager, Kirk Gibson, a two-time World Series Champion and former National League Most Valuable Player, was known as a no-nonsense competitor.  To change the attitude and results for 2011, Gibson took a tough-guy approach – he brought in three Navy SEALs to speak to the team.

The SEALs wrote three letters on a board:  DWI.  “Deal with it” – don’t let “circumstances” be an excuse for achieving your goals.  “They bought into it,” says Gibson.  The Diamondbacks went from worst-to-first in their division, despite injuries that sidelined key players for extended periods.

In his book Great by Choice, celebrated management expert Jim Collins profiles seven companies who outperformed their industries by a wide margin despite “circumstances” characterized by change, uncertainty and, at times, chaos.

The leaders of these companies shared the same “deal with it” attitude of the SEALS and Kirk Gibson.  Consider:

  • Progressive Insurance CEO Peter Lewis articulated a stringent profitability performance metric that his company met 27 out of 30 years from 1972-2002 because, in his words, “There is no excuse . . . for failing to do so.”
  • Stryker CEO John Brown set a performance benchmark (what he termed “the law”) to drive consistent progress of achieving 20% net income growth each year – “the law” became part  of company culture – Stryker hit its goal 20 of 22 years.
  • Southwest Airlines, generated a profit every year for the 30-years studied – a period when over $13 billion was lost, more than 100,000 employees were furloughed and prominent airlines declared bankruptcy.

 

Putting the Ideas into Action

  1. Outline clear, easy-to-understand targets for your people
  2. Make certain everyone “buys into it”
  3. Create a motto (like “Deal With It”) that distills the attitude or your organization
  4. Eliminate excuses from your culture
  5. Look for people every day who express the “can-do” attitude and recognize them