How To Play To Win | Alex & Leila Answer Your Questions Live
In a Nutshell
The core message is that most entrepreneurs play to play rather than play to win—they create excuses and acceptable failure instead of obsessively solving their single constraint with ten different approaches. Winners identify the bottleneck limiting their business, then apply disproportionate effort and volume toward that one thing until it breaks, rather than spreading effort evenly or defaulting to comfortable activities. Success requires accepting that no one cares about your excuses—only results matter—and being willing to make bigger bets, increase violence of effort, and focus aggression on the constraint rather than what feels good.
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Many entrepreneurs do not play to win. They play to tell themselves they are playing, giving themselves an excuse and reason to make failing acceptable.
A friend played for Don Shula, the famous football coach. What was interesting about playing for Don Shula compared to any other coach was that every single play in the playbook had a way of becoming a touchdown. When thinking about business moves, the question becomes whether every move ultimately helps accomplish overall goals, rather than just moving the ball forward. There is value in consistent yardage, but there are times when big moves must be made.
Small business owners have limited resources, requiring bets that have the highest risk-adjusted return. The goal is to move the ball forward the most for the least effort, repeated over time. Unlike football, business has unlimited downs but limited energy to execute them.
When entrepreneurs claim they cannot grow their HVAC business without hiring more tradesmen, they often have done only one or two things to solve the problem. The response reveals they have not hired headhunters, gone into forums for tradesmen, offered relocation bonuses, looked at poaching from competitors, run ads, attended trade shows and conferences, or established agreements with trade schools for internships.
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