I’m a huge LA Rams fan, and after a frustrating start to their kickoffs and coverage this season they have creatively righted the ship. Phew!
The Rams players are good, but not great, and let’s face it, nobody’s trading for a special teams superstar. Replacing 11 players isn’t exactly practical either. So rather than trying to make everyone better, they changed the kick. A “knuckleball” that bounces unpredictably, forcing returners to hesitate and adjust. Suddenly, the same players are having more success because they can get down field and set coverage better.
This adjustment sings to me because it’s a lesson in changing systems rather than people.
In the age of AI, we’re investing heavily in making employees more capable. AI literacy, prompt training, experimentation… all worthwhile. But we’re largely asking people to become better at playing a game whose rules haven’t changed. What if, instead of training 100 employees to do their existing work faster, we focus more on redesigned how the work gets done? How information flows, decisions are made, and people collaborate?
The Rams didn’t need 11 elite players, they needed a change in how they did the work.
If this made you think, pass it along.