Tuesday, February 9, 2010

The Law of the Big MO

John Maxwell writes in his book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, about the law of momentum. It's law #16. As I watched the super bowl this year between the heavily favored Indianapolis Colts and the underdog New Orleans Saints I could see this law play out. With the second quarter coming to a close the Saints were able to get the football and score right as the half ended. They had controlled the flow of the game, they had the ball most of the second half. Knowing that they would have to come out of halftime and kick to the Colts, Sean Payton did something that no one had ever done to start the third quarter. He had his team do an onside kick. Very risky! They kicked and recovered the ball. This was what most seen as the turning point of the game. Why did they do that? The Saints needed to maintain the momentum of the game. They had risked it all to hold the momentum. Wow, is momentum that important? Is momentum something worth the risk? In the 2010 super bowl it was worth the risk. It was important. It totally changed the outcome of the game.
The question is are you willing to risk for the sake of momentum? Is it easier to play it safe? I say if you start to build momentum, don't risk losing it. Do whatever you can to keep it. Even if it is a big risk.

No comments: