Breakaways are a big deal in hockey. It’s one of the best chances to score, and when you do they almost always look great. Watch any sports highlight show during the NHL season and you’ll almost always see them in a recap. Players put a lot of pressure on themselves in that moment, trying to beat the goalie in the initial rush. At the rec-league levels you’ll often see the goalie make the save and the player becomes visibly frustrated, banging their stick on the ice or cursing the failed attempt. Watch enough of these and you’ll also see the puck frequently popping back out; that same player now missing an second opportunity they didn’t even know about. They were too focused on what went wrong to see what could still go right.
I play hockey, and shortly after I founded Binnacle, I realized that many of lessons I learned on the ice are applicable to business. In this blog series, I’ll explore those lessons.
A lot of business opportunities don’t have goalies. You either make it, or you don’t, and not making it frequently means you made a mistake. Maybe there was wasn’t enough preparation, other times it’s poor execution, sometimes you’re not up to the task you thought you were. It’s important to acknowledge mistakes to be sure they don’t get repeated. However, when the “puck is still in play,” be sure to not shut out what’s happening around you, as there may still be an opportunity to win.
There is always time for kicking yourself later, don’t let it blind you to the opportunity to make things right.
