George Mack has created a ton of mental models.
When multiple mental models combine, he calls it the Lollapalooza Effect.
Whether Edmonton knew what they were doing or not with their hire, and if Connor McDavid had a say in who the coach was or not is not relevant here. But the teaching points are. So here we go.
Mental Model 1: Stakeholder vs. Shareholder
Sinek makes a ton of reference in his leadership teaching to this model. In business, across the board, he observes that businesses have stopped giving a shit about the people that matter… The stakeholders.
Everything is now done in terms of appealing to the loud people who shout and don’t have boots on the ground or skin in the game. They just want their money to grow via a rise in share price.
Players are stakeholders. The others are hooting and hoping for you to do things that make them money Those are shareholders. Let’s not get this twisted.
The people who watch, comment and collect dividends are not the same people who are doing things to increase the value of that thing.
If we try to make the group that shouts happier than the group that’s working…
That’s when it’s backwards.
McDavid and the rest of the players are stakeholders. They have to work together with whoever the new coaching staff is. Should they not get a say?
They should, and when you compound this second mental model with this one, the picture starts to get clear on why…
Mental Model 2: New Wave Ownership vs. Old Guard
Let’s say McDavid did have a say in hiring Knoblauch. Because he did have a say, he’s now more on the hook for the Oilers to turn it around. Since the new HC is ‘his guy’, he’s going to make sure things get off to a great start. He’s personally invested and now owns the choice.
Derek Lalonde used a similar tactic with the Red Wings last season in a different context:
During training camp, he pulled his leadership group into a meeting room.
They struggled with back-to-backs in the previous season and the new coach wanted to open a discussion about it with the players.
Then he did something crazy… I mean New Wave…
He said, “How do you guys want to handle back-to-back games this year when the first game is at home?”
He gave them the option to leave right from Little Caesars Arena after the game, fly to the new destination and sleep in, or sleep in their beds and travel in the morning.
The leadership group talked about it and came to a decision and Lalonde went with what they wanted.
The players now have a form of ownership. They are now “incentivized” to play better in those situations because they get to decide how they want to do it.
They might take one more stride on a backcheck in those games…
They might sell out to block a shot that they normally wouldn’t have committed to last year…
The point is, they give more of a fuck because it was a choice they were empowered to make. At the time of this writing, they are 3-0 in these situations.
When the players have ownership of a decision, no matter how large or small, it will increase their efficacy in making sure they make good on what they have chosen.
The Lollapalooza Effect is in full swing now, here comes the next one the Oilers are compounding…
Mental Model 3: First Follower Effect
Find out who the guy who speaks first after you leave the room is… You need him.
Find out who is “looked up to” (for the right or wrong reasons)… You need him too.
This is the ‘First Follower Effect’:
We’ve all seen this video. If you get a first follower to “come with you” you’re in good shape. As David Perell says, “you look like a genius.”
But if nobody comes with you, you look like “the goon.”
Edmonton’s first follower is Connor McDavid for the reasons stated in the previous mental model. And since he’s the best player in the league, he makes for a pretty good first follower.
Hiring Knoblauch with McDavid to co-sign stacks the deck in the rookie HC’s favor.
This last mental model also helps…
Mental Model 4: Hinkie’s ‘A Players Compound’
You have to throw in a Sam Hinkie mental model when it presents itself.
An ‘A Player’ is not a term because he’s a hockey player. Your best people and best operators in any business are ‘A Players’ regardless of rank or if ‘hockey player’ is in their job title.
Hinkie offers advice to companies he consults for that goes something like this:
Find out who ‘runs’ your company and don’t let them leave.
David Hawkins would refer to this as the critical point.
We could call it the critical player.
Hinkie says sometimes the CTO ‘runs’ the company even when everyone looks to the CEO.
Everyone thought Belichick was the critical piece in New England but everyday it’s looking more and more like Brady is the critical player they ‘needed’.
McDavid is the critical point in Edmonton. If he goes, it all goes to shit. Period.
And the thing about a McDavid type… Sidney Crosby and McKinnion fit into this category too… The guys that eat, sleep, piss and shit hockey 24/7 and are committed to excellence… They want to be around excellence. And they will bring it to you if it is lacking.
‘A Players’ compound. Get one and they will bring you more. This creates a flywheel of an ever raising excellence bar because excellence keeps walking in the door due to an A Player recommending the next person to acquire.
4 mental models at work with one choice…
Whether they know it or not, Edmonton is playing 5D chess with this move.
Compound mental models for maximum impact.