Having the Right Systems

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Last week, Carolina Panthers Owner David Tepper defended his hasty decisions regarding the coaches of his football and soccer teams.  

With Frank Reich being the third head coach to get the boot under his reign, Tepper was asked if he has to re-evaluate his own approach moving forward.

“Look, things are constantly evolving, and they’ll continue to evolve,” he replied to Joe Person of The Athletic. “Tryin’ to make things better is what you always try to do. Obviously, that record is not good enough. There’s no hiding it, it is what it is—like everything in this sport. Everything’s left on the field, everybody knows what it is every week. That record’s that record. And, like I said, it’s not good enough. We’re gonna self-reflect and make it better.”

“I would like to have somebody here (as coach) for 20 or 30 years,” he added. “I would like to have somebody (who is young enough) that (he) would say the eulogy at my funeral in 30 years. O.K., maybe it’s 40 years, I hope.”

Tepper, with that statement, demonstrates a lack of understanding of the requirements needed to build a championship organization. One man doesn’t last forty years, only when there are systems and processes in place can success be sustainable. Tepper doesn’t need one man, he needs an operating system. 

The "lone star" model of hiring in the NFL has proven to be a failure. With one third of the head coaches fired each year, this demonstrates a failure, not in the hiring, rather within the organization. In a specific based knowledge industry, one of the most important risks companies must manage is the one related to team building. A strong team is not the one where a single person disproportionally influences the team's results-much like a dictatorship. We all treasure the project champion and team leaders, but if we want business continuity, there must be structures/systems in place.

Gino Wickman, the author of Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business, writes: “All success organizations and companies have a system — a system that they flow — throughout the organization.”

Wickman refers to this as building a solution based oriented environment. He writes: “When everyone follows their process, it’s much easier for managers to manage, to troubleshoot, identify and solve issues and therefore grow the business. The clear lines enable you to let go and gain more control.”

The ability to address and solve organizational difficulties as they develop is a critical component of gaining traction. When systems are in place, correctly identifying the problems becomes much easier. The better the systems, the better the leader becomes at problem-solving, and the more successful your company will become. Tepper believes he needs someone to coach his quarterback, yet in reality, even if the next coach he hires can effectively develop his quarterback another problem will arise, creating more issues. 

Tepper is searching for the impossible, looking for a specific person to fulfill one need, not the needs of the entire organization. His narrow focus will create another mistake. He needs to sit back, clearly identify his vision for the Panthers, find people who share that vision, be open minded and growth oriented and build his company inside out, not outside in. 

Without a system in place, a standard for everyone, Tepper will never find the person who will deliver those kinds words forty years from now. 

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