Sean McDermott: "Culture Trumps Strategy" ?​​​​​​​

[oldmanfan]

6 minutes ago, teef said:

some people are acting like this year is the final product this staff is shooting for.  i think if we all take a step back and look, it's obvious that it's not.  again, i'm not saying that everything will work out, but this staff needs to be given this offseason to put their team together.  i get the disappointment of a down year, but there are many that are just taking this as an opportunity to join in one large pity party.

I certainly don't agree with everything they're doing with respect to the roster.  I would like to see a veteran QB backing up Allen.  I'd start Boettiger and Teller.  But to argue that organizational culture is immaterial to the success or failure of an organization is just mind boggling and flies in the face of pretty much everything known about organizational strategy. S

 

I couldn't agree more about whether or not they'll be successful.  It will depend on Allen developing, and how well they draft and get FAs in within the next year or two.  And how they approach that, how they do that?  Part of their culture.

[Keukasmallies]

Isn't culture a concept that grows out of a series of circumstances that occur over time?  If so, working to build a successful football team within the parameters agreed to by team owner and officials would seem to come first; then the "culture" will slowly emerge from those efforts.

 

Or, just keep blindly taking the TV, season tickets, and concession  monies and forget the whole winning thingy.  In other words, continue the culture in place at present.

[Nihilarian]

John Fox was also a defensive minded NFL head coach who first stated he wanted high FOOTBALL Character guys...where is he now? Meanwhile McD has signed, retained and drafted low character players!

 

It was Marv Levy that stated back in the 80s that...

 

"Football doesn't build character, it reveals character."

 

"Ability without character will lose. The Bills are going to be a team of high character. That stamp I will push very hard. I hope we can convey that to our fans and project something very special to the rest of the nation." —

 

What also made Marv so good was his confidence in his own job security that he hired an ex Colts head coach in Ted Marchibroda to coach his offense. Ole Ted instilled that hurry up/no huddle offense with the old Redskins "counter trey" run scheme so Thurman could make those great cutbacks. Then he taught Jimbo to call his own offensive plays like the old time QBs used to do. So it didn't matter that much to the Buffalo offense when Marchibroda was rehired by the Colts to be their HC. 

 

[oldmanfan]

2 minutes ago, Keukasmallies said:

Isn't culture a concept that grows out of a series of circumstances that occur over time?  If so, working to build a successful football team within the parameters agreed to by team owner and officials would seem to come first; then the "culture" will slowly emerge from those efforts.

 

Or, just keep blindly taking the TV, season tickets, and concession  monies and forget the whole winning thingy.  In other words, continue the culture in place at present.

Not really.  A big part of the job of any leader of any organization is to set the culture up front, set the parameters by which your organization will run, what it will prioritize, what it will value.  Those who get it stay around to help build, those that want to fight that wind up leaving.  Now, the leader also has to do a good job of explaining the rationale why she or he sets those priorities, and of course has to attract and maintain talent regardless if that talent is a nurse or graphic designer or forklift operator or NFL player.  But it still comes down to setting the culture of how you want your organization to function, how you want it to be.  Setting strategies based on that.

 

A good example of setting a culture with expectations is Belichick.  What does he say to his players, what is the culture he has set?  "do your job."  a simple statement, but one that has profound effects on how that team operates.

[YoloinOhio]

31 minutes ago, BillnutinHouston said:

 

What part of McD's quote removes accountability from the culture equation?

Narratives are tricky 

[BigBuff423]

52 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

What exactly is your point? 

 

The Giants lost in consecutive season because they lost a lot of their talent from those Super Bowl years and Manning has struggled. Coughlin, one of the better coaches when coaching of the league was HC. Culture had nothing do with them losing. They were void of talent. It wasn't a coincidence the year they went on a spending spree in FA they won 11 games that next year. 

 

You misquoted me and took issue with my post. It’s on you to go back and re-read my original post as you misquoted me from the beginning and took issue with something I didn’t say. So, enjoy your day and Go Bills!

[HeHateMe]

1 hour ago, joesixpack said:

 

Because this has anything to do with what he's talking about.

 

 

It may 

[Ol Dirty B]

1 hour ago, oldmanfan said:

Just proving my point once again.  first, it's clear you have no idea about how successful organizations are run.  Second, you know why I mention guys like Jordan?  because they are the epitome of successful culture.  Talented guys who despite their talent were also the guys who worked the hardest in practice, who made their teammates work hard, held them up to a higher standard.  There's a reason guys like Iverson, also very talented, never won anything.  They did not establish or buy into a culture tuned into success.

 

Just admit you have no clue and move on.  I've put a challenge out there to name me just one successful organization that did not care about their culture. If you're so smart and think it means nothing, name one. 

You think guys like Dareus and Gilmore are fighting the cultures established by their current teams?  You think Gilmore especially tells Belichick he doesn't care about how they do things in New England. 
 

Laughable.

 

So what do you think about Jordan as an NBA owner? I mean if he gets this "winning culture" stuff, why hasn't he ever been able to instill it into a team that he owns? 

 

You're wandering off and talking about stuff you don't know anymore. I'd just stop and save face if I were you. Just saying you don't get it only makes it look like I don't know what I'm talking about to the idiots.

 

There is no one size fits all thing with this culture ****. Every business is different. Did you run Kodak into the ground? I've come across those people and you sound like one of them.

1 hour ago, YoloinOhio said:

Where is talent vs character mentioned? It’s culture and strategy in building a roster. None of these coaches including McD never said they don’t value talent. They said they don’t ONLY value talent in a vacuum. 

 

The character point continually goes over everyone’s head no matter how many times it is clarified that he wants FOOTBALL CHARACTER. He has drafted, retained and signed players who have arrests, baggage and suspensions.

 

I've seen it all over this thread. I kind of agree with you, I don't particularly like listening to McDermott speak because it's all vague and cliches. It just allows people to twist his words into what they want.

 

I find what he said yesterday conflicting, because I agree with you, they have retained or brought in guys they identify as talented who have question marks. Their analysis of those players has been questionable though.

 

What concerns me is this winning culture bs. It doesn't trump anything, schemes, game plans, and being better prepared trump winning culture. Then those who beat the culture guys are labelled for having a winning culture. Their is no such thing as a winning culture. What about the Eagles last year? Culture has nothing to do with this. 

 

Winning culture is for losers. First time he drags this **** out is after a shut out. I don't want to hear about winning culture from a guy who just got shut out. Winning culture is some stupid phrase you bring out when you don't have any answers. Like all of his other tired lame cliches. 

 

 

[dpberr]

1 hour ago, BillnutinHouston said:

 

What part of McD's quote removes accountability from the culture equation?

 

It's conspicuous by its omission.  

 

Without accountability, McDermott's tenure will differ little from Rex Ryan's tenure.  Ryan was all about culture and loyalty too, with next to no accountability.  

 

Castillo and Robeskie may be great for culture but there are obvious problems with the OL and WR units.  The OL persistently looks lost.  The WRs have significant problems with concentration and motivation.  That falls not just on the players but the coaches entrusted to teach them and get them ready for the games.   

 

My hot take is there is significant interpersonal issues between Daboll and the more experienced coaches under him in the "I've been a coach in this league for decades.  This guy has no idea what he's doing..." sort of tack and it's percolating down through the players.  

 

 

 

 

 

[oldmanfan]

31 minutes ago, Ol Dirty B said:

 

So what do you think about Jordan as an NBA owner? I mean if he gets this "winning culture" stuff, why hasn't he ever been able to instill it into a team that he owns? 

 

You're wandering off and talking about stuff you don't know anymore. I'd just stop and save face if I were you. Just saying you don't get it only makes it look like I don't know what I'm talking about to the idiots.

 

There is no one size fits all thing with this culture ****. Every business is different. Did you run Kodak into the ground? I've come across those people and you sound like one of them.

 

I've seen it all over this thread. I kind of agree with you, I don't particularly like listening to McDermott speak because it's all vague and cliches. It just allows people to twist his words into what they want.

 

I find what he said yesterday conflicting, because I agree with you, they have retained or brought in guys they identify as talented who have question marks. Their analysis of those players has been questionable though.

 

What concerns me is this winning culture bs. It doesn't trump anything, schemes, game plans, and being better prepared trump winning culture. Then those who beat the culture guys are labelled for having a winning culture. Their is no such thing as a winning culture. What about the Eagles last year? Culture has nothing to do with this. 

 

Winning culture is for losers. First time he drags this **** out is after a shut out. I don't want to hear about winning culture from a guy who just got shut out. Winning culture is some stupid phrase you bring out when you don't have any answers. Like all of his other tired lame cliches. 

 

 

Keep on proving my point.  Kodak failed because their culture did not allow them the strategize appropriately enough to adapt. 

 

When you say winning culture is for losers - that pretty much shows your ignorance of how successful operations are successful operations.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

58 minutes ago, HeHateMe said:

 

It may 

 

Don't be an idiot. You wouldn't talk like that if he was muslim.

 

[billsfan89]

3 hours ago, pop gun said:

Did you know the Eagles were a middling .500 team, made a couple of moves, added a few key pieces and won a Super Bowl. Imagine they did all that without purging their roster of all their good young players. IDK, but I dont think they needed $90m in cap space to get it done, and more so they have a couple of our retreads they did it with and we had a couple of their guys we couldn't get it done with. McBeans team better get better real soon or, IMO they will be looking for work.

 

The Bills traded away Sammy, Darby, Dareus, Glenn, and Tyrod. Besides Darby (Who did not fit the scheme McD intended to run) all those players were either older or injury prone. Getting value for those players while shedding their contracts is the proper way to build a team. 

 

Do you think that this team would be a contender with those players on this team occupying 60 million on the cap? Sammy is making 16 million a year for the next 3 seasons and when the Bills traded him Sammy was a injury prone player. Dareus was a 28 year old player on a massive contract who was a under performing malcontent in the locker room. Cordy Glenn hadn't played a full season since 2015 and was on a massive contract, he was also 29 years old, not ancient but not young. Tyrod had one year remaining on his deal and although I would have preferred to keep him for the final year but the draft compensation was solid and he was gone after one year anyway. 

 

The only young player without a massive injury history the team gave up was Darby. The method to success in the NFL is to build around a rookie QB on a cheap contract. The Bills have Allen who once the 2019 season comes around will have 3 years remaining on his deal with a 5th year option. The Bills will be in a position to add a massive amount of talent in short order around a young QB instead of paying injury prone older players. 

[Ol Dirty B]

6 minutes ago, oldmanfan said:

Keep on proving my point.  Kodak failed because their culture did not allow them the strategize appropriately enough to adapt. 

 

When you say winning culture is for losers - that pretty much shows your ignorance of how successful operations are successful operations.

 

I can see why you like McDermott. You say nothing in your posts

 

The !@#$ did I just read? Sorry, I like details. Kodak failed because they relied on old technology and liked their film profit margin and decided digital photography would ruin that. They had digital photography in the 80s. They also over spent on offices, a floor at the Marriott in Rochester, upgraded most to first class when they flew to essentially burn money.

 

Why dont you answer my question about Jordan as an owner? If he knows a "winning culture" why can't he instill it in a team he owns?

 

I was going to say it in my last post but I bit my tongue. You're wandering off into waters where you dont know what you're talking about. My posts mention details and specifics. You sound like a 70 something repeating stuff he heard at his community college night school class.

Edited October 4, 2018 by Ol Dirty B

[May Day 10]

Wasnt this marv levy's big mission as gm?

[Ol Dirty B]

5 minutes ago, joesixpack said:

 

Don't be an idiot. You wouldn't talk like that if he was muslim.

 

 

Haha, pegulas hiring a muslim.

 

Sorry that's a troll post I just wanted to make the joke

[Ol Dirty B]

Just now, ScottLaw said:

Isn't KB making 12 million?

 

Watkins is by far the better player. 

 

Isnt Star making almost as much as Dareus?

 

Dareus is the better player.

 

Cap hell my ass.

 

These people dont know what they are talking about. They just say you dont get winning culture or business or organizations for some reason.

 

Yet they never mention details or accountability. But we're the ones who don't know what we're talking about

 

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

1 minute ago, Ol Dirty B said:

 But we're the ones who don't know what we're talking about

 

 

Now you're starting to get it.

 

[billsfan89]

5 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Isn't KB making 12 million?

 

Watkins is by far the better player. 

 

Isnt Star making almost as much as Dareus?

 

Dareus is the better player.

 

Cap hell my ass.

 

KB is making 8.5 million and he is off the books after this season. Sammy is due 32 million in 2019 and 2020. Star's cap hit this season is 6.5 million much lower than Dareus's but had Dareus stayed with the Bills he would be a 15 million dollar cap hit in 2019 and 2020 whereas Star is a 10 million dollar cap hit. Once again if the Bills had Sammy, Dareus, Tyrod, Darby, and Glenn are they a contender? 

 

I am also not defending the Star contract or the ability for McBeane to sign pro-talent. However that doesn't mean the philsophy of getting draft capital and dumping players on big contracts wasn't the right move in philsophy. The Bills holding onto aging injury prone talent to win a little more in the short term wouldn't help the team. 

Edited October 4, 2018 by billsfan89

[YoloinOhio]

3 minutes ago, May Day 10 said:

Wasnt this marv levy's big mission as gm?

Yesterday, Thurman said talent trumps culture, but yet the ‘Bickering Bills’ didn’t start winning until they changed the culture in the room. It takes both. Successful coaches realize that. Assembling a fantasy football team is different than a real football team. When making difficult personnel decisions, whether the player embodies the culture of the program he’s building is very important to McD and can be a deciding factor. They are rebuilding the team and aren’t done yet so yes, the talent still needs built in some areas. I don’t know how this becomes such a negative thing other than thirsty media and lazy agendas. 

[Ol Dirty B]

1 minute ago, joesixpack said:

 

Now you're starting to get it.

 

 

Really? We disagree on the team but I was just starting to not mind your posts.

 

Meh... whatever. 

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

Just now, Ol Dirty B said:

 

Really? We disagree on the team but I was just starting to not mind your posts.

 

Meh... whatever. 

 

 

Come on now, don't get all sensitive on me.

 

 

[Ol Dirty B]

Just now, joesixpack said:

 

 

Come on now, don't get all sensitive on me.

 

 

 

Lol I'm not we're good. I was just hoping for a response to my lame Muslim post

 

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

2 minutes ago, Ol Dirty B said:

 

Lol I'm not we're good. I was just hoping for a response to my lame Muslim post

 

 

Kinda swampy today, feeling unenergetic.

 

Heh.

 

 

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

14 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Isn't KB making 12 million?

 

Watkins is by far the better player. 

 

Isnt Star making almost as much as Dareus?

 

Dareus is the better player.

 

Cap hell my ass.

 

niether KB or injury prone watkins can stay healthy, so that comparison is bogus.

 

as for MD, he is clearly making more than star and they did right by trading him and his contract to the jags.

 

 

spotrac links

 

star

 

MD

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 4, 2018 by no name

[oldmanfan]

14 minutes ago, Ol Dirty B said:

 

I can see why you like McDermott. You say nothing in your posts

 

The !@#$ did I just read? Sorry, I like details. Kodak failed because they relied on old technology and liked their film profit margin and decided digital photography would ruin that. They had digital photography in the 80s. They also over spent on offices, a floor at the Marriott in Rochester, upgraded most to first class when they flew to essentially burn money.

 

Why dont you answer my question about Jordan as an owner? If he knows a "winning culture" why can't he instill it in a team he owns?

 

I was going to say it in my last post but I bit my tongue. You're wandering off into waters where you dont know what you're talking about. My posts mention details and specifics. You sound like a 70 something repeating stuff he heard at his community college night school class.

You've offered nothing approaching detail in any of your posts that I can see.  All you keep whining about is that culture means nothing, which flies in the face of pretty much anything known about organizational success.

 

Jordan?  I don't follow the NBA, but if I had to guess it's because he has not as an owner put into place the kinds of policies and procedures necessary to be successful in the league. Culture is to define what your goals are as an organization, how you do your work, how you set your priorities, how you align your organization to achieve your goals. Reinsdorf, Jackson et al did that with the Bulls, Jordan had to buy in and help with that.  He now has to set that as the leader of the entire organization.

 

 

[ColoradoBills]

15 minutes ago, billsfan89 said:

 

KB is making 8.5 million and he is off the books after this season. Sammy is due 32 million in 2019 and 2020. Star's cap hit this season is 6.5 million much lower than Dareus's but had Dareus stayed with the Bills he would be a 15 million dollar cap hit in 2019 and 2020 whereas Star is a 10 million dollar cap hit. Once again if the Bills had Sammy, Dareus, Tyrod, Darby, and Glenn are they a contender? 

 

I am also not defending the Star contract or the ability for McBeane to sign pro-talent. However that doesn't mean the philsophy of getting draft capital and dumping players on big contracts wasn't the right move in philsophy. The Bills holding onto aging injury prone talent to win a little more in the short term wouldn't help the team. 

 

Save your breath 89.  After the bad loss in GB Sunday there is blood in the water.

I can make a top 10 list of things that Beane and McDermott have not done correctly (IMO) BUT not signing Watkins and dumping Dareus were

both proper moves by them.

 

Beane and McDermott's success or failure will be decided on Josh Allen and this coming off season selections.

 

This thread is the only example you need to see where things are now on this board.

18 pages of people "tearing at their clothes" over a Head Coach "coach speak" comment on "culture" is all I need to see.

[Keukasmallies]

On 10/4/2018 at 11:07 AM, oldmanfan said:

Not really.  A big part of the job of any leader of any organization is to set the culture up front, set the parameters by which your organization will run, what it will prioritize, what it will value.  Those who get it stay around to help build, those that want to fight that wind up leaving.  Now, the leader also has to do a good job of explaining the rationale why she or he sets those priorities, and of course has to attract and maintain talent regardless if that talent is a nurse or graphic designer or forklift operator or NFL player.  But it still comes down to setting the culture of how you want your organization to function, how you want it to be.  Setting strategies based on that.

 

A good example of setting a culture with expectations is Belichick.  What does he say to his players, what is the culture he has set?  "do your job."  a simple statement, but one that has profound effects on how that team operates.

 

Might not be quite that simple.  Changing a culture from one that appears to accept losing to one that focuses on winning takes more than repeating a slogan or two.

Edited October 5, 2018 by Keukasmallies

[Ol Dirty B]

1 hour ago, oldmanfan said:

You've offered nothing approaching detail in any of your posts that I can see.  All you keep whining about is that culture means nothing, which flies in the face of pretty much anything known about organizational success.

 

Jordan?  I don't follow the NBA, but if I had to guess it's because he has not as an owner put into place the kinds of policies and procedures necessary to be successful in the league. Culture is to define what your goals are as an organization, how you do your work, how you set your priorities, how you align your organization to achieve your goals. Reinsdorf, Jackson et al did that with the Bulls, Jordan had to buy in and help with that.  He now has to set that as the leader of the entire organization.

 

 

 

So you were holding up Jordan and Bird as examples of this organizational culture, but you dont follow the NBA.

 

Got it.

[BADOLBILZ]

22 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Well, I don't know. 

Pegula might be all "Wooo!  Team made the playoffs last year!  Party!  This year, Anything Goes!"

I don't think Pegula cares what the fans per se think.  But then again, Pegula  (based on various) does seem to care if he's a laughingstock in the media.

 

I've said it elsewhere, and I'll say it here.  I think Pegula was prepared for a losing season this year, and had no intentions of making any changes.

But I think that intention was based on the assumption of fielding a competent team that played hard and just lacked the full talent to close the deal each week.  Sort of like AZ, which is 0-4 but, their 2 last games were decided by 3 points or less and where their offense last week under Rosen moved the ball and looked pretty good.

 

If the weekly embarrassments where the Bills are a laughingstock continue,  I think all bets are off.

 

 

 

 

I tend to think that Pegula will endure McBeane for this season and most or all of next season regardless..........mainly because they are concerned about being perceived as impatient and/or meddling.

 

But it wouldn't be inherently wrong or detrimental to give up on McBeane after only two seasons.

 

Since their hot start last season they've been bad........and sometimes *good* isn't even enough.

 

 I mean when Meathead got fired in Tennessee after making the playoffs I think all Bills fans understood why.   The Titans could do better.

 

And with a young Josh Allen at QB to offer along with a simple,  fairly well-stocked defense and a bunch of high draft picks and cap room and a locker room with decent attitudes this could be a fairly attractive job.     In some ways it mirrors the LA Rams job that McVay took.    

[Logic]

I did not read through the 18 pages of what I'm sure were RIVETING and well-composed responses, but I just wanted to say this:

It was clarified later on that McDermott was referring to the strategy of player acquisition and releases, not gameday Xs and Os strategy. So...yeah.

Chill.

[PlayoffsPlease]

5 hours ago, oldmanfan said:

I agree this is an interesting topic for discussion, and I am not trying to take shots at your comments, merely to respond to them.  You said his idea of culture is similar to his "trust the process" statements.  In a way, yes.  Trusting the process means to me the entirety of what McD and Beane are doing to met their vision of building a team that will compete for titles every year, and win Lombardis.  Culture to me is somewhat different, and I have already indicated what I think his view of culture is:  it's dedication to football. Whether it's what you're doing in the weight room, film room, practice field, or in games, are you giving maximum effort to being a successful NFL player. 

 

I like all your thoughts on strategy.  All of these are important in building a team.  And that roster building strategy is formulated based on establishing the kind of culture for the organization.  Talent without discipline can work, but more times can be destructive.  That is why they likely were not interested in a guy like Gordon.  It is why Dareus got traded (as you correctly point out you don't have a DT commanding the highest salary on a team, especially if he doesn't fit the culture).

 

I would be interested in your thoughts on the way successful franchises of the past and present have successful cultures.  Part of that is having your best guys, guys like Brady, Jordan, Bird, be the guys who demand excellence from their teammates, demand accountability.  Right now with the Bills it's McD driving that bus, with help from guys like Kyle and Zo.  As things go forward, and as he builds the team, what one hopes to see is that the mainstays of the team (hopefully guys like Allen and Edmunds) demand that same accountability.  Then you'll know you have something.  Then you bring in maybe a guy that's more of a challenge and the team and its culture are so set in place that a guy like that adjusts his perspective. 

 

So to me culture is where you start.  Not that strategy isn't necessary, it certainly is.  Not that as part of that strategy you have to find talented players that are complementary and so on.  But before you do that, you have to know who you are and what you are as a team and an organization.  And that's culture.

Yes I do. The reason I talked about my organization is I saw and have been a part of how changing the culture of the organization led to enhanced success.

 

If you don't think that the culture of an organization means anything to success, then you clearly don't know anything about how successful organizations are created.  I'll stand by that - the examples are far too numerous to mention, both in and out of sports.

These are literally three of the most gift athletes in history. If there talent was mostly about leadership then we would be seeing the Pacers vs the Hornets in a lot more NBA championships than we do.   I would use those three players as examples of why having the most talented players is the most important aspect of winning.  You can surround them with thugs and clowns like Aaron Hernandez or Dennis Rodman and still win championships.  

 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

19 minutes ago, Logic said:

I did not read through the 18 pages of what I'm sure were RIVETING and well-composed responses, but I just wanted to say this:
It was clarified later on that McDermott was referring to the strategy of player acquisition and releases, not gameday Xs and Os strategy. So...yeah.
Chill.

 

My armed forces active and vet friends are always telling me I get "strategy" and "tactics" mixed so take this with a grain of salt.

 

But I would call both the player acquisition/release AND the Xs and Os stuff "tactics"

 

I would call "strategy" the big picture - like "On D, we want to run a 3-4 and zone" or "On O, we want a mobile, Roeth- or Newton style QB and a strong run game" and perhaps the order in which you build things - Lines-out, or Key positions first etc.

 

I would call "tactics" the nitty gritties of what specific players you try to acquire and release and gameday Xs and Os

[Big Gun]

2 hours ago, oldmanfan said:

Keep on proving my point.  Kodak failed because their culture did not allow them the strategize appropriately enough to adapt. 

 

When you say winning culture is for losers - that pretty much shows your ignorance of how successful operations are successful operations.

Kodak failed because their decision makers made wrong decisions, kind of like McBean I'd doing.

[HeHateMe]

2 hours ago, joesixpack said:

 

Don't be an idiot. You wouldn't talk like that if he was muslim.

 

 

Relax there guy.  

[Hapless Bills Fan]

30 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

I tend to think that Pegula will endure McBeane for this season and most or all of next season regardless..........mainly because they are concerned about being perceived as impatient and/or meddling.

 

Ho!  I didn't think of that.  I should have.  If the Bills keep up the embarrassment, Pegulas are in a cleft stick.

Fire 'em - "Owners are impatient and meddling"

Keep 'em - "Owners have no judgement, Franchise is a joke"

 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

2 hours ago, ScottLaw said:

Isn't KB making 12 million?

Watkins is by far the better player. 

 

$8.5M.  But then there's the $3.5M peanuts we scattered for Coleman.    $8.5+$3.5 = $12M

 

2 hours ago, ScottLaw said:

Isnt Star making almost as much as Dareus?

Dareus is the better player.

 

$6.7M this year (Star) vs $9.9M (Dareus) plus different distribution of the bonus

Once, Dareus was by far the better player.  Last year he was here - I'm not sure he was better than Star.

 

2 hours ago, ScottLaw said:

Cap hell my ass.

 

The cap hell is real, but it's a hell of our own creating.

[oldmanfan]

50 minutes ago, Ol Dirty B said:

 

So you were holding up Jordan and Bird as examples of this organizational culture, but you dont follow the NBA.

 

Got it.

Followed itvwhen they played back in the 80's-90's.  Your question was about Jordan as owner 20-30 years later, and I don't follow it now.

 

Brilliant deduction on your part.

[Wroughting]

2 hours ago, oldmanfan said:

Culture is to define what your goals are as an organization, how you do your work, how you set your priorities, how you align your organization to achieve your goals.

 

 

 

You're confused, that's strategy.

 

Strategy is a high-level plan to achieve one or more goals under conditions of uncertainty.

 

You keep talking about Mcdermott's vision, again, that's strategy. 

 

The goal of every head coach should be to win the super bowl. How he gets there is his strategy. Our coach's strategy appears to be collecting a bunch of guys that love to play football,  call it culture, play fundamentally sound and hope to win. So far it's been a pretty mediocre strategy, little good, little bad. It's an older strategy, one we've seen before in Buffalo many times to mostly poor results. 

 

Culture isn't real, it's something losers talk about winners having to give themselves hope. Some intangible thing is all they're lacking, it's not that the other team is more talented or employs better tactics. 

 

You know what most successful organizations do? They find margins and they exploit them. The Patriots have done this for years. Pick plays, deflated footballs, taping practices and who knows what else. They find the widest margin they can and live there as long as they can. In the business world companies exploit cheap labor, lax regulations, tax breaks, all sorts of things. I'm sure the Chinese kids working to build my iPhone aren't talking about how great the culture at Apple is. 

 

 

 

Edited October 4, 2018 by Wroughting

[oldmanfan]

41 minutes ago, PlayoffsPlease said:

These are literally three of the most gift athletes in history. If there talent was mostly about leadership then we would be seeing the Pacers vs the Hornets in a lot more NBA championships than we do.   I would use those three players as examples of why having the most talented players is the most important aspect of winning.  You can surround them with thugs and clowns like Aaron Hernandez or Dennis Rodman and still win championships.  

 

You are confusing talentvand culture again.  I have never said you don't need talent.  Neither did McD although people keep trying to say he did.

 

Talent wedded to a solid culture makes teams and organizations successful.  The three guys I mentioned are the types that worked hardest in practice.  They challenged their teammates to do the same and accepted no less than that.  That is how culture can make organizations successful.

 

5 minutes ago, Wroughting said:

 

You're confused, that's strategy.

 

Strategy is a high-level plan to achieve one or more goals under conditions of uncertainty.

 

You keep talking about Mcdermott's vision, again, that's strategy. 

 

The goal of every head coach should be to win the super bowl. How he gets there is his strategy. Our coach's strategy appears to be collecting a bunch of guys that love to play football,  call it culture, play fundamentally sound and hope to win. So far it's been a pretty mediocre strategy, little good, little bad. It's an older strategy, one we've seen before in Buffalo many times to mostly poor results. 

 

Culture isn't real, it's something losers talk about winners having to give themselves hope. Some intangible thing is all they're lacking, it's not that the other team is more talented or employs better tactics. 

 

You know what most successful organizations do? They find margins and they exploit them. The Patriots have done this for years. Pick plays, deflated footballs, taping practices and who knows what else. They find the widest margin they can and live there as long as they can. In the business world companies exploit cheap labor, lax regulations, tax breaks, all sorts of things. I'm sure the Chinese kids working to build my iPhone aren't taking about how great the culture at Apple is. 

 

 

 

I disagree.  Culture is the expectations you place on the employees of a company.  It's you DNA and that DNA influences all you do from there.  Mission and vision statements define culture in my view (and where I work), and directly affect strategic decisions.

 

I invite you to visit any successful company and ask them if culture isn't real.  I think they will tell you that you are mistaken.

[dickleyjones]

12 minutes ago, Wroughting said:

 

You're confused, that's strategy.

 

Strategy is a high-level plan to achieve one or more goals under conditions of uncertainty.

 

You keep talking about Mcdermott's vision, again, that's strategy. 

 

The goal of every head coach should be to win the super bowl. How he gets there is his strategy. Our coach's strategy appears to be collecting a bunch of guys that love to play football,  call it culture, play fundamentally sound and hope to win. So far it's been a pretty mediocre strategy, little good, little bad. It's an older strategy, one we've seen before in Buffalo many times to mostly poor results. 

 

Culture isn't real, it's something losers talk about winners having to give themselves hope. Some intangible thing is all they're lacking, it's not that the other team is more talented or employs better tactics. 

 

You know what most successful organizations do? They find margins and they exploit them. The Patriots have done this for years. Pick plays, deflated footballs, taping practices and who knows what else. They find the widest margin they can and live there as long as they can. In the business world companies exploit cheap labor, lax regulations, tax breaks, all sorts of things. I'm sure the Chinese kids working to build my iPhone aren't taking about how great the culture at Apple is. 

 

 

 

 

culture is real. and it is part of strategy. this is really not difficult...