Hog Heaven believes Haynesworth.
Why is Albert Haynesworth better than Mike Shanahan? Because unlike Shanahan, he has drawn our attention away from amped up coverage of RGIII without using the words “Robert Griffin the Third.”
He brought up the other hot-button name, Ndamukong Suh.
Follow the link at the end of this post if you want to read the CSN story. This post is about Haynesworth. You see, it wasn’t his fault.
Albert Haynesworth was a symptom of the Redskins’ problem with flawed strategic thinking. He was not the cause of them.
Fat Albert did not help his cause by his conduct. The Redskins made him stupid rich. He was obliged to play the way they directed him to play. But, the Redskins mismanaged the whole mess from beginning to end.
- The decision to sign him.
- The crippling contract.
- Foolish promises made, then broken.
- Failure to connect the dots. DC Greg Blache either should have been given more say in signing Haynesworth, or have been told to fulfill the promises made to entice him. Blache was gone in a year anyway.
- Unstable coaching.
- Failing to end the matter decisively by releasing Albert and taking their lumps with the cap hit. Cap sanctions followed anyway.
Real competitive strategy
True strategic thinking leads to crafting genuine, sustainable strategic competitive advantages over your rivals. The Redskins don’t do it. Because it is sports entertainment, people do not see the necessity.
Wrong! Pro sports is far more competitive than in most industries. Strategic thinking is more necessary. Strategic failure shows up sooner in a very public way.
Competitive advantage in football is more than signing an All-Madden team. Real life NFL rules prevent that from happening.
Real competitive advantage is about methods and processes with a feedback loop to refine methods and processes. You excel by doing something better than than your rivals do and it becomes your channel to winning.
It’s boring. It sounds too much like your workplace. Fans turn to sports to escape that stuff.
Organic competitive advantage
The Ravens and Packers excel at assessing young talent that fit well to their approach to the game.
The Seahawks under Pete Carroll appear to have a competitive advantage in how they develop young players. Carroll is the rare coach whose collegiate approach translates well in the NFL.
The secret to the Patriots’ success is their approach to the Draft. They shed players to accumulate Draft picks. Then they excel at finding gems in the middle to late rounds.
Catch the difference? Advantage comes from something you do, not from an assemblage of well known players whose reps were made elsewhere.
The Redskins confuse big name signings and cleverness with the salary cap for strategic thinking. An appropriate management feedback loop would have steered them away from Haynesworth. It has not worked for them. It rarely worked for any team.
Redskins-rent-a-coach
Moreover, Washington’s strategies are never lasting. They rent their strategy with every new coach.
(SNIT: Jay Gruden was not a strategic hire. He was a tactical choice to fix a specific problem on offense. Maybe this year’s coaching overhaul can save him.)
Haynesworth put his finger on Washington’s problems. Do not ignore him because he was worthless here.
Daniel Snyder must develop his own strategy for developing genuine sustainable competitive advantage. Then, he must become more loyal to his strategy than to any player.
The Redskins cannot become a Super Bowl caliber team until Snyder becomes a Super Bowl caliber owner.
CSN Washington link: Haynesworth calls out Redskins, warns Suh to research his options.
Point after
Want to know more about strategic competitive advantage? Become familiar with the work of Harvard professor Michael Porter, the godfather of organizational strategy.
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