Scratch N' Hope

I was in a store last week buying milk. The woman in front of me had about a dozen plastic envelopes and the clerk had a stack of lottery tickets she had processed on the desk. Winner, loser, free play, ten bucks, play again, loser, rinse repeat. The lady stood patiently as it was tallied. $238 was her take. She said it was a good week.

She then started reciting what she needed for her next haul; and don't forget those scratch tickets! She placed each ticket into its corresponding labeled envelope, paid her money, and she was on her way. I wonder what would happen to these people if they ever won the big one. Would they retire from their career of buying lottery tickets? 

Motivating factors 

This has happened before; perhaps it's happened to you. You just want to get your stuff and get home but I was fascinated by this woman. What was her motivation? She can't be up after all the weeks or months or even years she's been doing it, so she is spending money to lose money to spend more. That makes perfect sense. 

On my first trip to Vegas, the two guys behind me on the flight were calculating how much they were willing to lose. They knew it was doubtful they'd be coming home with more money than they went down with but they seemed okay with it. A buddy once remarked on the shuttle driver's comments on his first trip there who said; "Welcome to Vegas, folks. Please keep in mind this city was not built on the backs of winners." 

I've been there twice, both on business trips, and I've spent about $50 on blackjack. My short-lived Vegas career has me up about $450. One night, I hit a bit of a lucky streak. My two buddies kept saying I should keep going. I grabbed my chips, stood up, and walked away. You might win some but the house will eventually beat you. Breakfast on me in the morning and let's go home. 

Gambling on real life

How often do we go for that gig that may be a bit out of reach; ask that woman for a date who may say no; sell the house and move to a new town where we know no one for a chance at a new venture?

We know as we board the plane that we won't be playing Phil Ivey in the World Series of Poker final at the Bellagio but we go anyway. The woman in the store knows her odds and keeps playing. Is it lunacy or hope? Is it the thrill of the chance or the chase of a dream? It does bring up one important question.

How often do we place that bet on ourselves?

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Win Like Senna

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose."

One of my hobbies is a passion for Formula One racing. It started when my best friend introduced me to the sport twenty years ago and I was hooked. I’m not one of those F1 snobs but there is something elite about this class of motor racing. The cars are trickier to drive, the season is gruelling, the traveling is unrelenting and the varied road courses have eaten up some of the most gifted drivers to ever get in a car.

Every premiere level of sport has its best of lists. Who is THE best? What names fall into the top ten? Gretzky, Federer, Woods, you have your list. And in Formula One, my top vote would go to Ayrton Senna. Seven time world champion Michael Schumacher puts Senna at the top and so do many other drivers.

"You touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind, your power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience, you can fly very high."

Senna was an animal on a road course. He made no excuses. He would drive you into the wedge and make you move out of the way. In 162 F1 starts over ten years, he made the podium (top three) 80 times, won 41 races and secured the world championship three times. Aryton Senna died in 1994 while leading the San Marino Grand Prix. As one commentator said, he simply ran out of road.

In his home country of Brazil, millions attended his funeral and there were three official days of mourning. Senna gave millions to charity through his foundation which lives today and loved his country very much. But battle him on track and you may just want to move aside or he did it for you. He was born to race. He was born to win. This month, there is a film simply entitled Senna about his life coming out in North America that is the highest grossing documentary in the UK history.

"You must take the compromise to win, or else nothing. That means: you race or you do not."

So how does the story of Aryton Senna help our career? How does it help our business? He did everything to win, period. One season, the championship was his, if rival (and fellow F1 legend) Alain Prost didn’t finish. So Senna blew Prost into the first corner and ended both their day. The crown was his. And this happens in the enterprise. Some will do anything to win even if it means destroying their competition.

To win in racing, you cross the finish line first. In business, you are in a much longer battle. But all so often we hear ourselves talk about increasing revenue, improving market share, crushing the other guy and how does that help? Senna was concerned about winning for him and his team and often would put others in harm’s way.

"Racing, competing, it's in my blood. It's part of me, it's part of my life; I have been doing it all my life and it stands out above everything else."

Off the track, he was a kind and gentle philanthropist. Fellow drivers revered him. Fans adored him. So it looks on the surface that he had the right strategy. Prost once remarked that Ayrton didn't think this would kill him, in fact, it didn’t even occur to him. And of course the unthinkable happened.

Do you know how to define your win?

Kneale Mann

image credit: victorvarela

Gridiron and Wall St.

I wake up most Sunday mornings hoping to turn off the world and sink into potato mode on the couch to watch several NFL games. My friends who don’t care for football wonder how anyone can just sit and watch a game where grown men don armor and smash into each other while chasing an oval-shaped sphere.

The average NFL stadium holds 70,000 people, it’s only used eight times a year, and the average game features the ball-in-play for about 15 minutes.

The cost of an NFL franchise is close to $1 Billion. There are travel and staffing costs, player and television contracts, coaching and scouting networks, merchandising rights and if you’re lucky – once or maybe twice in your history, you will win a Super Bowl.

But why are 32 teams fighting for the silver ring every year? Because the work involved in getting there is worth every ounce of sweat and toil. Because there are enough rich people on the planet who think it’s cool to own an NFL team. Because football fans would watch two low-end teams battle any day of the week.

It’s not about winning; it’s about the chance to win. It’s not about championships; it’s about the possibility of championships.

Why do you get up every work day and try again? Do you have competition within your business category? Are there others offering similar services to you? Are there companies that are doing some things better than yours? Why not give up? Why do you keep fighting and trying to improve? Why do you keep reaching for that championship?

Wayne Gretzky was asked after his Edmonton Oilers won their 5th Stanley Cup, why he keeps trying to improve. His response: “Because winning never gets tired.”

So excuse me while I couch it for a while and get inspiration from the gridiron. I just happen to like the dress code better than the one on Wall St.

km