Bend But Don’t Break

In football a “bend but don’t break” defense is a strategy in which you focus on stopping big yardage plays while giving up short yardage gains. It takes toughness, discipline, resiliency and teamwork for the defense to outlast the offense on long sustained drives. An opportunistic defense views all of the additional plays as more opportunities to force a turnover or for the offense to make a mistake. They are able to absorb the small hits throughout the game and ultimately wear the other team down. 

Last week, which was one of the busiest of the year, we were without a number of our key managers. One was out sick, one was out with a concussion, one had a death in the family, and one had to travel for a family emergency. On top of that we had to terminate two of our team members for violating company policies. I couldn’t be more proud with how our team handled all of it. They stepped in, supported one another, and banded together to execute all of our events at a high level and kept a positive attitude the whole time.

I’ve learned that one of the most important things in business is to build resilient teams. Adversity and challenges are not a matter of “if” but rather “when.” While major setbacks and obstacles get plenty of attention (COVID anyone?), the ability to withstand constant small hurdles can make an even bigger difference. When a team is consistently trying to fight an uphill battle, working shorthanded or dealing with work that is outside of their normal job, it can be frustrating and demoralizing. It leads to bad attitudes, additional mistakes, unhappy customers and ultimately, increased turnover.

To prepare for these situations at Footers, we have tried to build margin into our team by hiring people before we need certain positions. Having a larger team than needed costs some money in the short term, but we have found that it pays for itself in the long term. This strategy allows new team members to grow into their jobs as opposed to being “thrown into the fire” and generates qualified people that can step up on a short-term basis when needed. Burnout is reduced because we aren’t asking our team to constantly cover for positions that need to be filled while trying to operate at or above capacity. And we are able to give people time off for critical life events - even during our busiest months of the year. Our team is willing to cover for one another because they aren’t asked to do it all the time. They are grateful the team is there to step in for when they’re gone, and inspired to repay the favor when their fellow team members have to be out. 

It’s easy to prepare for what you know will happen, it’s very difficult to prepare for the unknown. And in business there are many variables that are outside of our control that can have a negative impact on our business and our teams. We must find ways to avoid death by a thousand cuts and we’ve chosen to do so by strengthening our team in both talent and in numbers.  It’s comforting knowing that when the small hits come our way, our team is able to bend and not break.