It Takes More

Where does the magic happen?

Where does the magic happen?

Last week, Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs (for the football illiterate, a good player on a good team) posted a picture of teammate Jermar Jefferson on social media that inadvertently showed code words to more than a dozen of the team’s drop-back play protection calls. It wasn’t particularly subtle:

Whoopsie. Typically teams fiercely protect this type of information. If the other team knows the code words, they should have a pretty big advantage. In a game won by inches, this information can make the difference between winning and losing.

Interestingly, Lions coach Dan Campbell (a pretty candid guy) said he’s not worried about it. From Campbell’s weekly radio interview on WXYT-FM (97.1):

“I don’t really give a crap. If we’re going to lose because of code words then we’re not good enough anyway. So I think we’ll just post the whole fricking playbook out there and every code word we’ve got. And it doesn’t matter. It’s not going to hurt us, it won’t affect us and it’s all good.”

The Detroit Lions’ 2024 season motto is “It Takes More“. It seems that Campbell’s perspective is that the magic doesn’t happen in the play calls. The magic happens because of the culture. The magic happens because every person on the team buys into how “it takes more” to win football games.

We were recently at a conference where we happily shared a lot of information about Chenmark. We decided a long time ago to be pretty open book about our structure and approach to recruiting, prospecting, and deal evaluation. We’re happy to share this information because it’s not what makes Chenmark special. Somebody else could take this tactical information and try to copy us (and trust us, people have).

We’re fine with sharing this information because what makes Chenmark special is intangible. The magic happens because of how our various structures and tactics subtly interact and reinforce our ethos. It’s in how we sometimes take advice and sometimes we ignore it. It’s in how we tell our story. It’s in how we react when things go poorly and how we celebrate our wins. It’s in how we force people to share rooms at retreats. It’s in making the hard, right decisions as opposed to the easy, wrong decisions. It’s in how we don’t drink at company events…except when we do. It’s in how we strategically do a lot of seemingly inefficient things that most are eager to outsource. It’s in how we Show Up, even if it means a 3:30AM wake-up call, two connections, and a multi-hour drive. It’s in how we trash talk in the company fantasy football league, have a company song, and are fiercely competitive in the annual clay pigeon shooting competition. It’s in how we happily quote Greek mythology alongside Happy Gilmore. It’s about how we laugh when something terrible happens. It’s in how we don’t shy away from The Work. We know that the magic doesn’t happen in the playbook.

It takes more than that.

Have a great week,

Your Chenmark Team

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