Kansas City is known for barbeque, early bebop jazz and the football team, the Chiefs. Although the Chiefs’ glory days in football are for the moment distant memories, in their heyday the Chiefs figured in what is still one of the most famous plays in the NFL’s Super Bowl era: 65 Toss Power Trap. The play, immortalized by Steve Sabol of NFL Films and Kansas City’s voluble coach, Hank Stram, became a signature moment because Sabol convinced Stram that a live mike on one of the head coaches on the sidelines during the game would be a great idea. (Bud Grant, the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, flatly refused.) Stram agreed to the set up only if Sabol delivered $750 in cash to Stram before the game ($750 was more than the average monthly income in 1970). Sabol had no idea that ending up with Stram over the taciturn Grant was a tremendous stroke of luck because Stram turned what could have easily been a flop into a classic bit of sports history.
On game day, Stram was miked and as he was wont to do, he started talking. “Keep matriculating that ball down the field boys” was his mantra, especially when the Chiefs began to control the game. After a Minnesota fumble, Stram called “65 Toss Power Trap” into Len Dawson, the Kansas City quarterback. The mike picked up Stram telling his players “the 65 toss power trap might pop wide open rats”. Dawson received the snap and faked a pitch to fullback Wendell Hayes who broke towards the left sideline; Dawson then pivoted and handed off to halfback Mike Garret. While all of this was going on in the backfield, the right guard pulled out of his normal position and instead of blocking straight ahead, he crossed behind the center to the other side of the formation to deliver a block for Garret who walked into the end zone virtually untouched. Kansas City went on to win Super Bowl IV, 23-6 a victory that no doubt served as an additional catalyst for the merger of the American and National Football Leagues.
So what does a 40 year old football play have to do with DLT Solutions? The play, 65 Toss Power Trap, like any other trap play is one of the most complex football plays to teach and execute. Proper execution requires a team of people, moving in different directions, executing different individual jobs the failure to do so by any of whom will result in a broken play and possible defeat. When a trap play is executed correctly, it is a symphony of simultaneous, human movement toward one goal, with each individual responsible for meeting the challenges unique to their job while making continuous adjustments to stay in synch with the rest of the team.
And so it is with DLT Solutions in its role as a value added information technology reseller. The sales and Business Development teams bring in the opportunities, while the contracts and order management teams work the details of the terms and conditions, while the management team assesses the risk and completes the sale.
Success does not occur in a vacuum. It is a total team effort to make sure each opportunity is properly qualified; each proposal is properly submitted; each term and condition is be properly negotiated; and each contract is be properly administered and performed. The DLT focus on communication, teamwork, innovation, risk management and follow through allows us to properly execute, often on close deadline, the play necessary to close the deal.
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