The Blocking and Tackling of Security Systems

I’ve been blessed to be a part of several successful teams in my life, both on a sports field and in business. As a football player, I was a lineman. One of the guys in the trenches. I played both offense and defense, but in college I excelled primarily on the offensive side of the ball.

For those that have played football, it’s well known that the smartest people on the field are the offensive lineman (especially when you ask an offensive lineman). This reputation comes from the responsibility of not only knowing what your responsibilities are on any given play, but what every other player’s responsibility is too. As an offensive lineman you must study the play, several different scenarios that the defense may run, what audible your quarterback may go to, who the running back may need to pick up, what route the receiver is running so you can block your man out of the field of view for the quarterback, etc.

A lot goes into any given play for the offensive line. All of this compounds when the quarterback recognizes something in the defense that makes him change the play at the line of scrimmage with 3 seconds left on the play clock. The lineman must adapt and communicate the new plan with the 2 seconds left before the ball is snapped. Success or failure depends on how well this adjustment is made. They must adjust and execute knowing that they’ll receive none of the glory if it goes well and all of the blame if they fail.

Part of my responsibilities at Kenton Brothers, Systems for Security is the operational team and the systems we manage to deliver our products and services as expected to both our internal and external customers. I’ve often observed that our operational team is like the offensive line of a football team. They must not only know their job, but the job of each person before and after they touch a job or service that passes through their hands. Many times, there are audibles or changes in jobs as they are running them through the system that require flexibility and adjustment for success.

During the sales process, a salesperson submits a quote for execution by the operations department. This relationship in most organizations is a tenuous one. The operations folks look at the sales people as prima donnas (quarterbacks) and the sales people look at the operations people as roadblocks (lineman). Organizations that can smooth out this relationship, like on the football field, become very successful.

Some of the same rules apply,

1. Make sure there is really good two-way communication. Sales must be able to talk with ops and ops must be able to talk with sales – and they both must listen for solutions.
2. Teams Win – Both parts of the organization must remember that we’re in this together. Even if we just got hit hard with reality, we must pull together to win.
3. Lean on the smartest people in your organization, before the play even begins. Check with the operations team before committing to a promise that may be impossible to deliver. At Kenton Brothers, we have engineers sit in during the sales process with our salespeople because they hear with different ears. Try it! It helps!
4. Remember, even if you have an awesome game plan, the best quarterback in the league and the best offensive line in the world, your competition or customer may hit you with a surprise you’ve never seen before. This is the time you regroup, collaborate and hit back with teamwork!

At Kenton Brothers, we’re blessed with an AWESOME offensive line! Our operations department is humble, selfless, hardworking and above all else – the smartest I’ve ever been around. Want to learn more? Give us a call!