String Music

During the past 11 years and three months I have written 135 monthly issues of my e-newsletter – originally titled “The Franchisee Focus” and rebranded four years later to “Fast:Forward” to reflect the expansion of my coaching practice into the corporate world.

I finished issue #4 around 11 p.m. on April 5, 2004, immediately following the Championship game of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, having watched Connecticut defeat Georgia Tech. My storyline in that missive focused on how the committee ranks every team on an S-Curve from one to 64 and seeds the bracket accordingly.

One of the key points referred to a franchisor client that “has an outstanding management team, a strong product in a growth industry and a solid marketing approach. Yet, like many franchise systems, their franchisees are not achieving the results they or the franchisor expect. Put in sports terms, they have a good game plan, but their execution is coming up short.”

As the Tournament begins today, my premise remains valid. The difference between a champion and everyone else often comes down to which team plays together best during March Madness. And, except for this year’s undefeated favorite Kentucky, it isn’t always the most talent that reaches the summit. Terrific coaching and a desire to excel often determine who cuts down the nets just before CBS signs off with “One Shining Moment.”

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