I’m a big sports fan so this analogy caught my attention.  It comes from  Tom Peters (read his books…he’s as sharp as they come in the business world.)

His post said:

People are always looking for a silver bullet to help their businesses. Silver bullets can be great, but so often companies don’t succeed due to poor execution of basic things. They try to throw the bomb but forget to block and tackle.

So I loved seeing a fact in a New York Times Magazine story on Mike Oher, a star lineman at University of Mississippi who had a rough childhood. The second highest paying position in the NFL, after quarterback? Left tackle.

Block and Tackle.  Do the basics in your business, do them well, and do them consistently. Sometimes business isn’t all that complicated. You’d be surprised at what happens when you consistently execute simple and sound business practices… “throwing the bomb” down the field is fun, but doing the basics of blocking, tackling and running the ball will usually get you down the field for a score more often and with more reliability.