The Advantage of Winning

I have always found it interesting that in some games, winning does not simply mean that you have more points.

It gives you something else.

Options.

I was thinking about this recently while watching baseball.

Baseball is a peculiar game if you are not familiar with it. It can look almost leisurely at times. A player stands at the plate, everyone waits, someone throws a ball at considerable speed, and suddenly the entire stadium wakes up.

But underneath the apparent calm is a fascinating lesson about advantage.

When a team gets ahead, the game changes.

The team that is leading has something the other team does not have: room for error.

It can play more conservatively. It can protect its lead. It can make decisions that reduce risk.

The team that is behind has a different problem.

It has to chase.

And chasing changes behaviour.

You take bigger risks because standing still will not get you back into the game.

But there is another interesting feature of baseball.

Unforced errors are expensive.

A dropped catch, a poor throw, a mental mistake or a bad decision can give the advantage to the other team without the opposition having to work particularly hard for it.

The other team does not have to create the opportunity.

You give it to them.

And once a team scores, it retains the advantage and forces the other side to chase again.

I think money works in much the same way.

When you have money in the bank, bills are simply bills.

When you don't have it, a bill can become the beginning of a much bigger problem.

A payment is missed.

Interest begins accumulating.

A penalty is added.

A cheque bounces.

Another payment becomes overdue.

The credit card balance grows.

And suddenly you are paying not only for what you bought, but for the privilege of having been unable to pay for it on time.

That is a particularly cruel feature of financial difficulty.

Being short of money is expensive.

The person with savings can absorb a financial mistake.

The person without savings can have a small mistake turn into a chain reaction.

A late payment becomes a penalty.

The penalty creates another shortfall.

The shortfall requires borrowing.

The borrowing attracts interest.

And the interest creates another bill.

Before long, yesterday's small problem has become today's large problem.

That is not very different from a baseball team giving away an unnecessary run.

The team that was ahead makes an unforced error.

The opposition scores.

Momentum changes.

Suddenly the team that was protecting a lead is defending one.

This is why financial discipline is not simply about becoming wealthy.

It is about protecting the advantage you already have.

If you have savings, protect them.

If your business is profitable, don't assume it will always be so.

If you have manageable debt, be careful about taking on more simply because someone is willing to lend you money.

If you have a good income, don't immediately convert every increase in income into an increase in lifestyle.

Because advantage has a strange characteristic.

It is easier to lose than to build.

It can take years to accumulate financial stability and one careless decision to damage it.

The same applies to businesses.

A company can spend years building a good reputation and lose it through one badly handled customer.

A good employee can spend years building trust and destroy it through one dishonest decision.

A relationship can survive years of disagreement and be damaged by one careless act.

Life is full of these unforced errors.

And perhaps this is where baseball teaches us something deeper than winning.

You don't have to be brilliant all the time.

Sometimes you simply have to avoid giving away what you have already earned.

The person who is financially secure does not need to win every financial battle.

They simply need to avoid turning small mistakes into disasters.

The company that is doing well does not need to chase every opportunity.

It needs to protect its cash, its people, its reputation and its customers.

The person who has built a good life does not need to constantly reinvent it.

Sometimes the smartest thing is to protect what works.

There is a certain wisdom in understanding that.

We live in a culture that celebrates the big win.

The entrepreneur who makes millions.

The investor who finds the perfect opportunity.

The company that grows spectacularly.

The baseball team that scores a spectacular run.

But much of success is considerably less exciting.

It is paying the bill on time.

Saving a little money.

Avoiding unnecessary debt.

Keeping your promises.

Showing up.

Not making the stupid decision when the sensible one is sitting right there.

In other words, sometimes success is not about scoring another run.

It is about not giving the other team one.

And perhaps that is the real advantage of winning.

When you are ahead, protect the lead.

When you are behind, create options.

And wherever you are in the game, be careful with the unforced errors.

Because life, much like baseball, has a rather unforgiving scoreboard.

It remembers the runs you scored.

But it also remembers the ones you gave away.