Tim Tebow: What the Analysts Miss

Tim Tebow is one of the biggest sensations in the NFL right now.

The Denver Broncos were 1 and 4 when he was installed at quarterback. The analysts and critics howled. He can’t throw. He is inaccurate. He has a long wind up and release. It takes too long. He can’t make the professional throws. He doesn’t have the skills to lead a team to the Super Bowl. No team has ever won running the option attack that best suits his strengths.

There was an explosion of criticism unlike any that’s ever occurred over a first round draft pick. The verdict seemed to be unanimous—he would fail, he wouldn’t last.

Set up to fail
The team was depressed. There’s nothing worse than being in a losing locker room. They had just lost 4 out of 5 games with Tebow installed as quarterback, in spite of the fact that they have mediocre talent and almost no receivers who can catch a pass because they had even traded away Brandon Lloyd who was their best receiver one a week before Tebow took the starting job. It seemed like Tebow was set up to fail. 

Then something shocking happened
When Tebow went in he asked the team just one thing, “all I ask is that you believe in me.” They were energized by his excitement and intensity. They became filled with hope and their spirits renewed. They started playing inspired ball and 5 out of the next 6 games which gave the Tebow Era a 5 and 1 record. A dramatic and immediate turnaround, once Tebow took over at quarter back.

It was astounding because they won on the road—the toughest place to win. They did the unthinkable; they beat every one of their division opponents in their own stadiums. That almost never happens, certainly not with a rookie quarterback in his first start. 

What the analysts missed
They missed the fact that a players impact and performance goes way beyond his skill set. It has to do with how few errors he makes. Does he throw interceptions? Does he fumble the ball? Does he make stupid decisions?

It also has to do with sprit and inspiration. Does he energize his team? Do they play better because he’s in the game and they believe in him? Do they feel like as long as he’s in the game they have a chance to win? And also how does he play in the clutch when the intensity and anxiety is in the highest? Does he fall apart or does he rise to the occasion? You can be a picture perfect passer of the ball, but if you panic during the game, you’re useless. 

Tebow excels at all the intangibles
What the critics have underestimated are Tebow's strengths. Just take a look at his stats. He makes great decisions plus he’s turning out to be one of the greatest running quarterbacks the NFL has ever seen. He’s so dangerous and smart about his running that it has opened up the line for the other running backs to have huge games.

And in crunch time his passes are deadly accurate. The Denver Broncos have become very dangerous for the senses to face. And the other thing is he’s just now getting his first chance to play regularly and he’s improving every game.

That’s what the inexperienced players do. They improve when they’re given a chance. You can’t learn how to play and perform as an NFL quarterback until you get a chance to get experience in the game. Tebow is getting that now and is developing rapidly. But all of these things seem to fly right over the radar of the expert analysts. Maybe they’re not so expert after all. 

The lesson for me and you 
Don’t give up your dreams because you might not be as talented as someone else. You can win anyway. You can improve. There are a lot of ingredients that go into winning and talent is just one—and talent will only take you so far.

A willingness to compete, a love of the “game” and a determination to improve and win is what really takes you to the top. If you’re driven you can do amazing things in your life and… like Tim Tebow you can astound your critics as well!

Do Simpletons Run Apple and Google?

What’s the common thread between Apple and Google?  

Why is it that these two companies have exploded over the last decade?  

The obvious answers are leadership, timing, superiors products, but there’s something more.  

Their tenacious determination to keep things simple for their consumers has been a big part of making them popular and keeping them popular.  

Steve Jobs became famous for insisting that his devices have only one button.  

Google went so far as to create a high level executive position so they would have one person in charge of making their search page simple.  

At Google you have to fight and win many heroic battles to get your new feature, word, or idea added to their main search page. It’s no accident their search page is so clean and simple.  

It’s designed to be that way and stay way no matter how many other things they offer they’re not going to clutter up their primary function.   

The leaders at these companies are simply recognizing reality.  

• They know the world is a complicated place.  
• They know that their customers want results.  
• They don’t need to read a manual.  
• They don’t want to look up instructions.  
• They want to be able to get what they want as quickly and simply as possible so they can get on with their lives.  

Other companies are not that smart. 
They think the public wants features, extras, those are wonderful to have but not if it clutters up and confuses and complicates using the product.  

No one needs more hassle. 
As the great philosopher Chuck Berry once sang “too much monkey business.” People have complicated lives that seem to get more cluttered and complicated every day. Things to do, things to learn, things to get, it never ends. The last thing they need is more confusion and a product that is a frustrating hassle to use. They want to get the main thing done as quickly and simply as possible. It’s great to have the ability to do extra but minor things but it’s not great if it frustrates and confuses getting the main thing done. A simple clean page—one button. These companies get it and they have exploded with success.  

How about your product?  
Your training programs, your system, your service. Are you making the main thing you offer simple and easy to understand, easy to use? The simpler you make it, the more powerful your impact will be. That’s the underlying approach these companies have used with so much success. I wonder if that kind of thinking would pay off for you. Like the leaders at Apple and Google focusing on simplicity doesn’t make you a simpleton it makes you simply brilliant. 

This determination helped make them popular and kept them popular.

They don’t shift the focus off what each products primary, most beneficial, best feature is right in the spotlight.  

Winner's Book Club Selection of the Week: Ben Hogan: An American Life

What are his WINNER'S CREDENTIALS?

Hogan captured a record-tying four U.S. Opens, won five of six major tournaments in a single season, and inspired future generations of professional golfers from Palmer to Norman to Woods.

Book Description

One man is often credited with shaping the landscape of modern golf. Ben Hogan was a short, trim, impeccably dressed Texan whose fierce work ethic, legendary steel nerves, and astonishing triumph over personal disaster earned him not only an army of adoring fans, but one of the finest careers in the history of the sport.

Yet for all his brilliance, Ben Hogan was an enigma. >>read more>>

If you "walk" when you chase, you never "catch."

Stay on the Attack when pursuing Greatness!

When chasing a big dream—when you’re trying to make a huge breakthrough and it’s taking forever to get there, you’re frustrated. You’re confused. You’re doubting.

Here’s what you’ve got to do: stay on the attack. You cannot afford to back off. Nothing good comes from backing off. Stay on the attack!
 
Why does this work? Success, big discoveries, big breakthroughs are always very elusive, very tough to find, very tough to make happen. Especially the first time. That’s why they’re so rare and precious.

The fact that  you are wildly frustrated is a sign that you have put in massive amounts of time, energy and effort and are closing in on your breakthrough! If you were not close you wouldn’t be expecting the breakthrough and you wouldn’t be so incredibly disappointed that it hadn’t happened yet. 
 
That is a clear sign to you that you’re on the right track and you’re getting closer. You are eliminating the things that are standing between you and success and you’re just about there, so…

Stay on the Attack. You’re almost there!

WINNER’S BOOK CLUB SELECTION OF THE WEEK

The New Strong-Willed Child

By Dr. James Dobson

This is one of the greatest books on raising children of all time!

Here’s the secret…All children are strong willed!

Even if they act meek, shy, introverted and quiet on the inside they are just as determined and strong willed as any of the others.

Here’s another secret, it's true of everyone. In business, sports, and all walks of life, every individual is strong willed. They may disguise it, but their iron will is the same as everyone else inside.

Situations you encounter with children parallel situations you encounter with adults. This book provides solid advice that applies in both areas.

Amazon’s Editorial Review

2005 Gold Medallion Award finalist! 

Dr. James Dobson has completely rewritten, updated, and expanded his classic best seller The Strong-Willed Child for a new generation of parents and teachers. The New Strong-Willed Child follows on the heels of Dr. Dobson's phenomenal best seller Bringing Up Boys. It offers practical how-to advice on raising difficult-to-handle children and incorporates the latest research with Dr. Dobson's legendary wit and wisdom. The New Strong-Willed Child is being rushed to press for parents needing help dealing with sibling rivalry, adhd, low self-esteem, and other important issues. This book is a must-read for parents and teachers struggling to raise and teach children who are convinced they should be able to live by their own rules!

About the Author

James C. Dobson, Ph.D., is founder and chairman of Focus on the Family, a nonprofit organization that produces his internationally syndicated radio programs, heard by more than 200 million people every day. He is seen on 80 television stations daily in the U.S. A licensed psychologist and licensed marriage, family, and child counselor, he is a clinical member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and is listed in Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare. Dr. Dobson is married to Shirley and is the father of two grown children, Danae and Ryan. He resides in Colorado.

Here’s a Customer Review

Khyraen "Superintendent, Barlow Christian Aca... (CA, USA)

I have the older edition of this book; I absolutely love it. I re-read it every few years because there are so many ideas in it that I will forget the ones I do not immediately need--thus the need for review as my children grow and change. 

Spanking is advocated, but there are so much more to this book that a parent who does not believe in spanking—and is a reasonable person who understands that other good parents do use spanking—could read this book and take much out of it.  >>read more>>

It Can Only Get Better

The problem with starting over, learning something new is at the moment you start you can’t be anything but a dud, a zero.

No one likes that. But the good news is that you can only improve. Everything you do moves you forward. Every step gives you experience and insight. Everything you learn opens up new possibilities.

The progress from dud to stud is one step at a time. You start at zero as a total incompetent. How could you be anything else? You’ve never done it before. But from there on its nothing but progress forward and continual improvement! Depending on how driven you are, you go from incompetent to beginner to average to competent to good to pretty good to very good to great!

They say there are about 10,000 steps to greatness in anything. 10,000 steps, things you must do, things you must learn, repetitions you must go through. I don’t know if that’s really true, but there will be a bunch of them and the sooner you run through them the quicker you can get to the Top.

Don’t focus on where you are.

Focus on where you are heading and the progress you are making.

Enjoy the fun of learning new things, developing new skills, accumulating new experiences and growing in a new arena! Keep your head down, stay on track and soon you’ll soon be amazed at how far you’ve come. As one of the experienced riders, Michael Newman, told me when I was first competing in Show Jumping… “It can only get better!”