With Super Bowl Sunday approaching, the media hoopla is crescendoing around the Giants’ Eli Manning and the Patriots’ Tom Brady.

Is his ankle OK? Will he play? Is it all a ruse? What’s the name of the 2nd string quarterback for the Patriots anyway? Was Spy Gate good for team morale?

Over the years, I’ve been fascinated with the “Dynasty” that the Patriots have managed to create, in an era of free agency and the salary cap, both of which work to equalize teams and deter dynasties-in-the-making.

The Patriots should win on Sunday because they’ll win as a team. There are only two starters still playing from the 2001 Championship team: Matt Light and Tom Brady. They have systematically let expensive star players go, such as the likes of Lawyer Milloy, Deion Branch, Ty Law and Adam Vinatieri. Even though Tom Brady, a player selected in the 6th round of the 2000 draft, is a bigger NFL star than Eli Manning, the first pick of the 2004 draft, the Patriots won’t win because of Brady only. In fact, in the playoff game against the San Diego Chargers, the Patriots won despite Brady’s season-high three interceptions. They won because of the entire team, not their star player.

I know it is trite to think that sports are a metaphor for life, and it doesn’t follow that we should operate businesses like sports teams. Still, there are interesting threads that can be reused.

Over Christmas, my husband got what I think was a gag gift from his sister: David Halberstam’s The Education of a Coach. It is a quick, light read, and I really enjoyed it. I learned a few things about how Bill Belichick built the team. One story sticks with me strongly.

It was a hot summer day, early in the 2000s. The team was practicing and overheating, and Matt Light approached the coaches about stopping practice due to the heat, for the health of the players. Belichick asked for an exchange. He would cut practice short if Light, a huge guy, the left tackle, someone who almost never touches the ball, could catch a punt. The book tells the story of Light in the middle of a field, surrounded by the wide receivers and special teams staff who were coaching him on how to catch (”keep your hands soft” “wait for it, watch it”), everyone pulling for the lineman playing out of his position. He caught the punt. Belichick kept his word and the team got a break. A team gelled. Belichick smiled.

So for me, after reading the book, I have a few “teamwork lessons” to mull over:

• Teamwork comes from the transfer of strengths among team members. It also comes from taking risks, Matt Light made himself vulnerable that day–he might have dropped the punt, yet he succeeded in part through coaching from the team’s best receivers. Belichick took the risk of the loss of practice time, balancing it with the morale boost from the time off and the knitting the team together in a common cause and celebration.
• How do we best recruit for talent and team at the same time? Teams work best as a collection of folks who want to be on a team, who know they’re better and safer as part of the larger group. Belichick’s example is a flexible one, with a changing roster of players and consistent performance. Impressive.
• What disciplines can we put in place in our process to encourage risk-taking and support for folks playing “out of position”. I think they include:
  • Open and collaborative workspace where folks can’t hide away and fail in isolation, where folks who can help can hear about problems before they become great big problems.
  • Rewarding honesty, making it safe for folks to admit limitations or surface problems.
  • What else?
• What is the Super Bowl of search marketing?
• Which of us at PV is Tom Brady? Which is Matt Light? Which is Tedy Bruschi? Bill Belichick? Any votes?