There was, until there wasn't
This weekend was a great weekend to be a Michigan fan, there were just ten seconds left and you held off the Michigan State Spartans 21-23 to win for the first time in seven years.
All you have to do is punt the football.
It was a great day to be a Michigan fan - until it wasn't.
The lesson to be learned from Saturday is not the horrible vitriol that volleys back and forth between the fans. Instead, it is the power of thinking you can win even when you shouldn't. MSU doesn't practice that play, there are simply far too many variables to prepare for this situation. What they do practice is making every play count and prepare to win every down.
This is NOT to say that Michigan doesn't because that isn't true and it takes away from a truly great football game that broke all sorts of TV viewing records. Both teams played a fantastic game, the difference is that one didn't give up when even some TV stations thought the game was over.
It wasn't.
Brands experience similar challenges; the pitch didn't go well, the client is probably going to say no, your recruitment campaign isn't getting the right candidates, or your company is missing its goals. There are people in these situations that will say "there was nothing more I could do" or worse yet, "what did you want me to do?"
These people are standing around waiting for the punt.
These people will lose in the last 10 seconds, every time.
There are others who anticipate the "no" and create campaigns that you simply cannot say "no" to. These people understand the calendar year ends on December 31st and you make a choice if you hustle to the end. These people prepare for every pitch, work towards every roadblock to anticipate the friction and negate it. They work nights and weekends, they put off vacations, or other rewards until they get it right.
These people understand that you don't stop until the buzzer sounds or until the referee pulls you off of your opponent in a fight. These people understand 10 seconds in plenty of time to win the game. So they tend to win.
Because they understand there wasn't a smartphone until there was.
There wasn't a social network until there was.
80' hair bands ruled the rock charts until this happened:
And this Gary Vaynerchuk quote:
There wasn't, until there was.
If you had 10 seconds would you give up? Or figure out the way to win?
That is your choice, every day.