To put things in perspective, in the last 108 years, the entire world went to war twice, an entire continent was liberated from imperialism, socialism came into existence, aeroplanes were invented along with telephones, computer, peripheral devices, and the world moved to digital media from silent movies, atom bombs were created but only after discovery of electrons, neutrons, and protons first, and the world finally learned what it is to be on the Moon. To sum it up, the last 108 years saw development and progress that equated that of the 1,900 years before it. Therefore, for Chicago Cubs, waiting for 108 years to cease their losing-streak was quite a long time. In all seriousness, the folks at Chicago Cubs had to watch the Titanic sink, wait for another 85 years for a movie to be made about it, and then wait another decade for the movie to be released again, followed by their victory that came 6 years after the last release of the movie ‘Titanic’
A photo of the Chicago Cubs in 1906, including Tinkers, Evers, and Chance. Players are, top, from left: M.Brown; J. Pfeister; A. Hoffman; C.G. Williams; O. Overall; and center,: H.Gessler; J. Taylor; H. Steinfeldt; J. Mc Cormick;Frank Chance; J. Sheckard; P. Morgan; and F. Schulte; ;and, bottom: C. Lundgren; T. Walsh; John Evers; J. Slagel; and Joe Tinker.(AP Photo/ho)
Before we discuss the victory of Chicago Cubs and the lessons it offers, let us understand why the number 108 is important. 108 years imply that a team has been defeated in 108 tournaments. In all this time, a team becomes accustomed to losing. Not anticipating a victory becomes a habit, and the willpower to fight back vanishes. No longer is the unit appalled by its own disappointments, and every game becomes another opportunity to be the second best, because no one, not even the team itself, expects itself to register anything phenomenal. However, all this was changed by Chicago Cubs, and the credits are led by Theo Epstein, President of Baseball Operations for Chicago Cubs. Theo Epstein, through his thoughtful planning curated a victory people weren’t expecting in their own lifetime.
Turns out, Theo Epstein has amplified his own success. Being the youngest General Manager in the Baseball business, at the age of 28, back in 2002, he led the Red Sox to victory in World Series, a win that was registered for the first time in over 8 decades. The success of Red Sox was repeated in 2006. Eventually, in 2011, Epstein joined Chicago Cubs, in a move everyone fondly termed as a disaster. Now, Theo made two remarkable moves in one move, he gave up the captaincy of a ship he had built, and instead moved to a ship that was as good as sunk. Much like a leader, he chose to do the difficult part, given how the Chicago Cubs were performing back then.
Theo Epstein in a conversation with a member of the Chicago Cubs unit.
When he took charge of Chicago Cubs, Epstein was asked the obvious question; when could an 87-year old man see the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series, or would he even? To this, Epstein replied by asking the old man to continue his vitamins as the victory was going to come, not immediately, but in a few years, and eventually it came. Startups and enterprises, like Chicago Cubs, must focus on a long-term strategy. If your startup has been struggling for a long while, clearly you have been doing something wrong for a great amount of time and setting it right won’t be an overnight process. Rome wasn’t built in day, and this line happens to be one of the few cliches that can actually help your startup or enterprise. Long Term Strategies for product planning, UX and UI Design, marketing, and future prospects should always be on the cards. Curate your startup with the objective you want your enterprise to achieve 5 or 10 years down the lane. Short term plans are for the ones who want to make money while long term goals are for the ones who wish to make history, like Chicago Cubs did.
Unlike what the bosses of today think, any enterprise doesn’t succeed because of good leaders alone (bosses are not leaders, nor are leaders bosses) but also because of a great team, divided into proper units, and working in a hierarchy. What Chicago Cubs did right in terms of player acquisition was that they did not blindly follow the statistics, but instead evaluated players on their personality traits, keeping physical strength as one of the components and not the only one. Startups must realise that skills of a person get the work done, but success isn’t a slave to work alone. Enterprises could be faced with potential employees who have had a rough past in terms of employment, are job hoppers, or may have had a spat with their previous boss that resulted in their departure. As an enterprise, your inclination should be to work with people who have overpowered difficulties, and who know the tricks to get out of a tight spot. You don’t need people who can dictate their terms to a computer with ease, but the ones who can make the machine and clients dance with their majestic work methodology. Go for people, and not robots, who understand the job. Even if its costs you more, and it may, it’s completely worth it.
Culture is important to a startup and every enterprise, and Epstein realised this. Therefore, immediately after joining Chicago Cubs, he circulated a manual that depicted the points that were to become the Bible for the players in the team. An enterprise doesn’t succeed because 100 people are doing the right thing to excel on an individual level, but when a team of 100 people collectively does the right thing to achieve a common goal. What the success of Chicago Cubs teaches us is that an enterprise should look to curate its own culture, and not just blindly follow a convention that was adopted by a contemporary. If your startup cannot create its own culture, how will it create its own space in history?
Luckily, startups and enterprises have a lot of sources to turn to in times of crisis, and what separates the vanquished from the victors is the will to learn and change. Many bosses (the word ‘leaders’ has been skipped purposely) tend to ignore the importance of learning, and put themselves on a path that Chicago Cubs started on 108 years ago. Success, in some amount or the other, is going to come eventually, but life is too short to wait for 108 years, and fans and players of Chicago Cubs are testaments to this fact.