How To Use David’s Strategy to Beat Your Goliath
Halloween has always been “Upset Weekend” – the perfect time to knock-off Goliath. This is an excerpt from my book “Little Things That Win Big Games”. I took tips from Malcolm Gladwell’s best selling book “How David Beat Goliath” .
“How David Beat Goliath” by Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell is a bestselling author who has written three bestsellers: The Tipping Point, Blink, and The Outliers. I recommend all three. However my favorite piece by Gladwell is an essay about how underdogs win. The essay appeared in the May 11th, 2009 edition of The New Yorker magazine.
Gladwell discusses an undersized, under-talented girls’ basketball team of twelve-year-olds. The coach had to develop a strategy that could give his underdogs the best chance of winning. He thought about how David slew Goliath. He surprised him by attacking him, he used an unconventional weapon, and he followed up on his advantage. He decided the David’s of the world have a chance if they don’t play by Goliath’s rules. So he decided on a full court press all game. His team had remarkable success.
Gladwell talks about T.E. Lawrence better known as Lawrence of Arabia using unconventional tactics to defeat the Turks during WWI. Raiding the Turks and using hit and run tactics overcame military superiority. Doing the unexpected gives the underdog a chance.
There are other examples in this essay about David’s victories over the Goliaths. Every football coach has had to deal with a Goliath.
The Birth of the Triple Gun Offense.
In the spring of 1999 while at Washburn University we had to come up with a strategy that was unique and would allow us to compete with the larger and more talented programs in our conference. We decided to run the triple option from the shotgun. After a tough start the team embraced the new offense and that fall we had the best season that Washburn had had since joining NCAA Division II.
We set all the school’s offensive records and Triple Gun was a majorpart of our team’s success. In 2005 we installed the Triple Gun at The University of Charleston and we had the biggest turn around in
conference history finishing 8-3. In the 5 years we have been at UC, our record is 37 – 18. In 2009 we finished ranked 19th in the nation. We have also set all of UC’s offensive records.
The same principles that David used to kill Goliath, that Lawrence of Arabia used against the Ottoman Empire and that the coach of the girls’ basketball team used to win a championship are used in the Triple
Gun. They are:
1. Don’t play by Goliath’s rules. Change the game. Do something unique that is tough to prepare
for.
2. Think outside the box. If you do what everyone else does you have to be better than everyone else. But you can always be THE BEST at YOUR system.
3. Do the unexpected. Be unpredictable. To do this you must have a diverse and flexible scheme. Your scheme must be able to adapt in an instant.
4. Practice and play with relentless effort. Relentless effort trumps talent. David must work harder than Goliath. He must be better prepared.