The Game Goat Thread: Wk.2 at Seattle

tmracht

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 19, 2009
3,070
The analysis and posts in the goat threads are always much more informative than the ones in the game ball threads. I think that's because we don't look as hard at the wins as we do at the losses.

I saw Jim Caldwell make a point about this once at a conference where he was talking about the concept of after-action reviews. (He was a surprisingly great speaker.) He talked about how sometimes you make twice as many mistakes in wins as you do in losses but it's hard to focus on them and correct them. I thought that was actually kind of Belichickian.

Anyway, that's a diversion from the point that I really appreciate the analysis that's going on here, though I much prefer the game ball threads.
Yes one of the biggest things I've failed to instill in my team at work is that good outcomes still have mistakes we can correct. They don't always see that, they see project complete as we did it! But, a failure as what can we do better next time. I'll have to see if I can find Caldwell speaking about this to see how he words it or someone similar.

That's a good point. Perhaps instead of game balls for wins and goats for losses, we experiment with more of a 3 up 3 down format. Maybe we'd get the same analysis every game, win or loss
That's a cool idea, I like that. I know podcasts that use similar formats and they work really well in win or loss.
 

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
37,069
Hingham, MA
Or maybe we have a post-game analysis thread each week (in addition to the goat / game ball threads). It can highlight both good plays and bad from our Xs and Os experts.
 

Saints Rest

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Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Or maybe we have a post-game analysis thread each week (in addition to the goat / game ball threads). It can highlight both good plays and bad from our Xs and Os experts.
I love this idea.

In my mind, the goat / game ball threads are really just extensions of the game threads. Most of the posts tend to happen in the first few (waking) hours after the final whistle, and thus often have a similar (to game thread) level of emotional response.

Maybe even instead of 3 Up/3 Down, it could be more along the lines of "What worked, what didn't?" as that tnds to apply in both wins and losses.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

Found no thrill on Blueberry Hill
SoSH Member
Sep 9, 2008
42,297
AZ
Yes one of the biggest things I've failed to instill in my team at work is that good outcomes still have mistakes we can correct. They don't always see that, they see project complete as we did it! But, a failure as what can we do better next time. I'll have to see if I can find Caldwell speaking about this to see how he words it or someone similar.
He was one of a panel of speakers that discussed the issue along with people from the military, medical and aeronautics fields. Those three have thought about the issue much more in depth. NASA in particular has all sorts of ideas about the art of mistake prevention and how mission success can trick you into thinking that every part of the mission was a success. I know this is a big thread diversion but it does apply to football even though the stakes are not quite as significant.