Magic Skittles

For years I bowled in leagues and tournaments. In one particular league my team was in first place at the end of the year and we were bowling against the second place team for the trophy and prize money. Our team was one game ahead of the second place team and we were bowling three games to decide the champion.

Our team lost the first game and was losing the second game when I rallied my team and asked what was wrong. "We are the better team, they have not beat us all year, what is the problem", I asked. They began muttering excuses and so I turned and began walking away. I walked to the vending machine and purchase a bag of Skittles and returned to our table. I slammed the Skittles down on the table and said "here they are!" "Here what is"asked one of my teammates, "I just see a bag of Skittles". "Not just Skittles, Magic Skittles!! I replied."

Of course everyone looked at me as if I had two heads and I said, "Just eat the damn Skittles". They all laughed and began eating the Skittles and low and behold they began bowling better. Soon we caught the other team and won the game in the last frame. The third game was an absolute blowout and we took our trophy and prize money home as champions.


The point of this post is to remind you that even high performing teams need refocusing. You cannot rely on past performance as a guarantee of future success. Take the time to refresh the vision, strategies, and implementation. Hold each team member accountable and don't be afraid to address drops in productivity, even from your superstars.


On a side note, the following year we were the second place team trying to take the championship from the first place team. We were down one game and one of my teammates jumped and started to walk away when it was his turn to bowl. "Where are you going", I asked. "To get some Magic Skittles" he replied with a smile.

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