The Non-Possible Reason Behind the Patriots Victory Over the Colts (42-20)

To the neophytes,  the winning element was the Belichick's hoodie.   The hoodie does not, plan or execute.  

However, the record of the gray hoodie improves. Click here for part two on the record of the gray hoodie.

Succeeding in the Information Economy with the Right Practices: The Belichick's Hoodie

The Myth 
Regardless of the categories of sports, there are those fanatics who liked to imitate their favorite coaches and players for a myriad of reasons.

In the region of New England, there are the hardcore fans who followed Bill Belichick's habit of wearing his trademark hoodie 24/7 for the purpose of being like "Bill".

In most cases, it would be a miracle if any of them can emulate his strategic thinking or strategic decision management skills under duress

The Hoodie
While you can click here, here  and here for more trivia on wearing the Bill Belichick's hoodie, we recommended that you click here for the reason of understanding the psychology behind this practice of wearing the same (or similar) outfit everyday. 

You can secure more information on buying a Belichick's hoodie by clicking here.  I usually preferred the blue one.

We cannot guarantee that you will successfully triumph in your numerous ventures by wearing a Belichick's type of hoodie.  But your competition might somehow remember you regardless of the results.

Side Note: American Giant of San Francisco produces a high-quality "Made in USA" sweat shirt.

What Really Works? The Walsh's Tradition of Scripting
Some people believed that they can be triumphant just by imitating the habits of their idols without ever understanding the true reasons behind the person. 

Many of us at Compass360 CG  preferred to mindfully implement the process of Assessing, Positioning and Influencing the situation before ever utilizing the Bill Walsh's tradition of scripting a game plan. We understand the strategic and tactical reasoning, the means and methods and the situations for applying it

Click here on the understanding the basics of scripting.

"In planning, never a useless move. In strategy, no step is in vain. ..." - Chen Hao

The subtle objective behind having a good "starter play" script is devising a sequence of scripted plays that quietly achieves a multiplicity of tactical objectives. This will assist the playcaller to make the proper adjustment play.


The Benefits
Conclusively, the constant implementation of scripting a plan will enable the practicing strategists to understand the sequence for meeting their goal.

"In the field of observation, fortune favors the prepared mind." - Louis Pasteur 

From our experience and other people's experience, this pragmatic practice psychologically focuses the strategic implementer  to stay centered on the targeted objective while being mindfully aware of one's own terrain and beyond.

The Truth
The myth of the hoodie reminded us of the Art of War Cult who carried their copy of Sunzi's Art Of War wherever they travel and for whatever strange reasons, thinking that the possession of that book would offered them an immediate strategic edge.  

As many of us know, that is a pure myth, just like wearing a hoodie or a red-colored shirt will make you a winner.

Learning how to script a gameplan will make the implementer a better strategic thinker while wearing the hoodie will only keep him/her warm.

When one can assess, position and influence the configuration of their Big Tangible Picture and beyond, the scripting of the tactical plays becomes easier.

The Compass Practice
I have no knowledge whether some of my fellow associates have ever wore a hoodie while standing during the scripting of a plan. But it is a good practice for centering oneself to a task at hand.  Listening to a murmur of Mozart's piano concertos and Bach's keyboard concertos while scripting the strategic plan and sipping a cup of Dragon Well tea will indirectly increase your productivity.

We will post other relevant, but efficient Compass Practices in the future.


Side Note: Viewing the Big Tangible Picture
In ancient China, some of the elite desktop strategists understand their Big Tangible Picture (the BTP) by reading Jiang Tai Gong's Six Secret Teachings and Wuzi's classic (Art of War) before ever concluding a grand decision of pursuing a collaboration or a conflict with another party. 

The essays of Sunzi's, Jiang Tai Gong's and Wuzi are found in Dr. Ralph D. Sawyer's translation of The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China.  

Our experience tells us that the superior but pragmatic practice is assessing the singularity of the Big Tangible Picture before integrating one's strategic script with the various strategic and tactical principles from The Eight (not Seven) Military Classics of Ancient China (Seven Classics + Sun Bin's Military Methods).

Side Note
Go Patriots! Beat the Colts.

(update) 
The Visiting Patriots defeats the Colts  42-20 on Sunday the 16th of Nov..

The Dao of Competitiveness (New England Patriots and Spygate)

In terms of the professional food chain, spying is supposed to be the second oldest profession.  

The amateurs have a proclivity of claiming that spying is unethical and unfair. Regardless of their view, these people are either idealistically ignorant or quietly being a hypocrite. 

However most historical dynasties succeeded in their endeavor due to their ability to secure "tangible" intelligence about their opposition.

It has been rumored that some NFL teams have cheated by spying on their competition. Catching them in action is a different story.  It was a surprise that the great Bill Belichick was caught for "spygating."  It was a rarity because someone err in their operations.

Bill Cowher, a former competing coach admitted that he ordered some of his staff members to steal the opposition's signals during the game. 

“We didn’t lose the game because of any Spygate, because of them having any additional things,” Cowher said. “I think if they’re guilty of anything, they’re guilty of arrogance, because they were told not to do something. But it was something that everybody does. The only thing they got caught [was] doing it with a camera. We had people that always tried to steal signals. Stealing someone’s signals was a part of the game, and everybody attempted to do that.

“Part of the things we had [were] wristbands that we were using to do it. It’s not even an element anymore because of the communications that take place on the field to the quarterback, to the linebacker. So it’s an element of the game that doesn’t exist, and really, what happened when we lost that game is they outplayed us, and it has nothing to do with stealing signals, or cheating, or anything else. They were a better football team on that day.”   - CBS Local

He also didn't think much of Spygate.


At this level of competition, some people do whatever it take to win. 


Side Note 
Bill Parcells (Belichick's ex-boss) also accused Bill Walsh, the great SF 49ers coach of cheating too. Without pristine evidence, his accusation had no grounds.

Know Ahead. Act Before 
In the game of baseball, some teams would have their coaches or their scouts stealing signals between the pitcher and the catcher or the third base coach and the hitter. 

There has been a rumor that Bobby Thomson received some foreknowledge on what was the next pitch from Ralph Branca. It lead to his game-winning home run that helped the New York Giants to win the National League pennant at 3:58 p.m. EST on October 3, 1951.

Other Examples of Extreme Competitiveness 
To compete correctly in the information economy, countries must have their intelligence agencies.

Certain business companies have been known to hire ex-spooks and former law enforcement officials for irregular projects.  We will touch more on that topic later.

Click here for a high tech approach for stealing data.

Compass Prediction

"Good Artists Copy, Great Artists Steal."  - Pablo Picasso

Those who cannot innovate, will steal or copy. 

In our moderately innovative economy, the non-innovative companies will be building cyber armies of spies to gain the advantage. If caught, they will go to court, work out a deal and everyone might be happy.  ... Life goes on.

Comments From The Compass Desk
If you do not know what your competition is doing, ask yourself if your competition knows what you are doing.

Knowing how to utilize the acquired intelligence and having the resources to capitalize on it, is the name of the game. ... In some instances, some people do not have the audacity to make the big move.

Regardless of what the members of the peanut gallery are saying about the "spygating" incident, we are admirers of Bill Belichick's and his many coaching achievements. 

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Gaining the Informational Advantage by Knowing the Big Tangible Picture (2)

New England Patriots 45 Denver Broncos 10

When one competitor easily scores five touchdowns in the first half of the game, the serious and insightful spectator could have presumed that they have already identified the absolute weaknesses of their opposition and decided on capitalized on those opportunities.

Look at the stats and see if you have the same conclusion.

When certain strategic and tactical factors between the competition evens out, quality intelligence becomes relevant to those who want the advantage.

Compass Rule: The quantity of quality information is proportional to the quantity of strategic advantage (strategic power) that one might have.

note: There is an exception to this rule.

Additional note:

Most football fanatics knew that the Patriots were going to win. The question was: are the Patriots able to play dominance football against the Broncos? ... I presumed that the "inside knowledge" positioned the staff's preparation into a state of readiness and the team into a state of dominance.

Gaining the Informational Advantage by Knowing the Big Tangible Picture

Fwiw, the New England Patriots are playing Mr. Tebow and the Denver Broncos this coming weekend.

Bill Belichick, the head coach of the New England Patriots recently made a masterful move by immediately hiring Josh McDaniels his former offensive coordinator as his new offensive coordinator for the next season, since his current coordinator Bill O'Brien will be leaving for Penn State after the Patriots football season is over.

One can only expected that the Patriots defense will gain a slight informational edge from the presence of Josh McDaniels. He was the former coach of Tim Tebow, the quarterback of the Denver Broncos team and some of the other Denver players who played in the previous season.

What is the chance that Coach McDaniels has an understanding of the habits and the situational tendencies of certain players? ... The Patriots now had one extra week of preparation and the insider information on how to prepare against the Broncos. ... So, which team has the advantage now?

Compass Analysis

• Terrain Factor: Patriots (Home Territory)
• Offense vs. Defense: Patriots
• Strategic Playoff Experience: Patriots
• Informational Advantage: Patriots
• Divine Intervention: Irrelevant
• The Wild Card Factor: Broncos

{There are more factors.}

Prediction: Pick the Patriots to defeat the Broncos.

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The Information Advantage

When the categories of various critical strategic and tactical factors are evened out between the competitors, the possession of quality intelligence becomes quite relevant. ...

Compass Rule: The quantity of quality information is proportional to the quantity of strategic advantage that one might have.

The Sunzi's Advantage

... Did the reading of Sunzi's The Art of War presented Coach Belichick the true insight to make this move? (In the AoW world, the diehards know that he is supposed to be one of the many enthusiasts of the Sunzi classic.) ... I doubted it. ... It was his ability to see the connections within his version of the Big Tangible Picture and having the mindful awareness to make the right decisions. ...

From our experience, reading any book on strategy and tactics could guide someone so far. ... (However the AoW and the rest of the Seven Strategy Classics are quite good at giving good pointers. By carefully reading those books, one can indirectly find the connections between the exploitation of intelligence to the "terrain" level of the competition. ... Ask your local Sunzi reader/expert if he or she knows that connection?) ... Integrating the principles and the protocols into a d0-able process that would enabled him or her to operate efficiently, is the challenge. If it is done properly, the performance of its users would be elevated toward a higher plane of competition.

The Dao of the Successful Strategist

... The successful strategist begins his endeavor of achieving the state of strategic effectiveness when he sees the Big Tangible Picture by knowing how things are connected. Then he assesses it in terms of advantages and disadvantages. The next step is to position himself with a sound and solid plan and proper preparation. The final step is the influencing of the target with a myriad of orthodox and unorthodox strategies.

Do you know how everything connects in your competitive terrain and beyond? ... Do you have the intelligence advantage?

Understanding the Competition

Bill Belichick is one of the best "strategic" coaches.  He knows how to identify a competitor's strategic deficit  and their various tactical weaknesses.

In the past, he has told the news media that he was a reader of the Sunzi's Art of War (AoW) classic. (Whether the trivia can help him win a relevant game is a different story.)

By being well-prepared, Belichick rarely errs in his game decisions. He always plays the percentages. Occasionally, he calls a gadget play in order to surprise his opponent.

Strategically, the superior strategist always believed that the success of the play is usually based on the execution not the decision.

One similar Art of War exploit is his indirect involvement of the 2007's Spygate event.

This past Sunday, he discovered the NY Jets was their opponent for today's game. The press asked him about his view on the Jets.

Following is an excerpt of his Sunday news conference:

Q: What stands out to you as different about the Jets from what you saw when you played them Dec. 6?

BB: They’re pretty much the same team. Obviously, they didn’t have a good night that night. But, they do a good job running the ball. They’ve got big play receivers and tight ends. They do what they do on defense – a lot of man coverage and they’re pretty physical on the front line. [They're] very good in the kicking game. Good return game – that was a big play for them last night on the kickoff return after the Indianapolis field goal. They’re a solid team. Their record reflects that. I don’t think they’re a whole lot different than really what they’ve been all year. They do a lot of things well.

Q: You mentioned familiarity. Is it hard for teams at this time of the year to change anything or does the familiarity really come into play?

BB: You’ve had 16, 17 games, whatever it is, not counting preseason and another 100 and some practices, so I think everybody probably has got a lot of options in their playbook or in their system. It’s a question of what you want to do, what you feel like is best to choose from and the inflections that you have – how you match up and how you want to play against the team that you’re up against. I’m sure they have a lot of options at this point.

Q: When a team is coming off that kind of emotion and experience in that game and you all have had the bye week, is there any concern about them being able to take that momentum into this week having had that game while you all had the bye?

BB: I think the most important thing is the week of preparation and how the teams prepare on Sunday. I think that’s what it really comes down to. I don’t think what happened last week or in some game in December or some game in September or some game in October, I don’t think that’s going to have too much bearing on it. I think what happens between now and kickoff and how the teams perform once the game starts, I think that’s what will decide the winner.

Q: Have you seen a growth for Mark Sanchez from the beginning part of the season through the middle to where he was last night and how he’s able to be effective?

BB: I thought he did a good job last night. [He] made some clutch plays that they needed to make there at the end of the game. He’s obviously a good quarterback; he’s led them to the playoffs two years in a row.

Q: Last week, Rex Ryan said he thinks that you help Tom Brady with studying and game preparation more than what Peyton Manning gets in Indianapolis. What do you think about that statement?

BB: I really don’t think a whole lot about stuff like that. I just try to coach our team. I think you have to ask Rex or somebody else about that, whoever said it, whatever the context was, I don’t know. I’m worried about getting our team ready.

/// As usual, he preferred to talk about his own team rather than the opponent.

http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/10/belichick-talks-about-facing-jets/

Some of our clients have asked us about how do we think Bill Belichick assessed this week's competition.

Our usual response was: "At this moment of the competition, each principal has a video library of each and every play. They almost know what are the usual tendencies. The focal point is to  to know and anticipate the decision making process for the current circumstance. ..."

Defining the Strategic Power (Shi)

Strategic Power (Shi) is an advantageous circumstance that an AoW strategist uses against their opposition. It begins by knowing the opposition in terms of their strategic foundation.

Understanding the Tactical Imbalance of Strategic Power (Quan)

Step 1: Know the injury factor

The objective of each football strategist is to know who is injured (on both sides) and what is the quality of each injury. The quantity of injuries occasionally determines the quality and quantity of the strategic options.

Step 2: Know the decision habits of the play callers and the players

Another key point is to know the tendencies of the opposing play caller and the positional players in terms of various decision making scenarios (strategic situations, various tactical situations, adjustments etc.) ...

Step 3: Know the state of the terrain and the performance state of your competitors at the day of the competition.
By combining data from each of the earlier steps, one begins to understand who has the superior strategic power.

In terms of the tactical side of the strategic game, the successful strategist usually focuses on the deployment of formations and the relative strength of each competitor in each tactical situation.  During the game, he is searching for a slew of situational matchups that would give his team the advantage. 

This is how the "real" professionals play the strategy game. ... It is this simple. ...

Theoretically, one gets the big tangible picture by filtering the reality and the illusions of the competition and the terrain. Then he or she can exploit the weaknesses and strengths of the overall situation.

Whether Belichick's team wins, we will not find out until Sunday evening.

An update on 01.16.11

The New York Jets toppled The New England Patriots, 28-21. Regardless of the injuries and the poor execution, the outcome is what counts.

Ruminations from the Compass Desk

Implementing the AoW principles as a strategic direction, can be challenging for some people. Choosing the right tactics and being able to execute them on time and on target are some of the other difficult challenges that a game strategist usually encounters.

In summary, the proper execution of the process is what usually enables the competitor prevails .
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