eye on business
Super Bowl Lessons for Us All
Kris Johnson, AWB President
Super. Bowl. Champions.
It’s still sinking in. For those born and raised in the
Northwest, it’s been a long time coming. And what a decisive victory it was.
The Seahawks’ 43-8 dismantling of the Denver Broncos
offered so many positive storylines. So many inspiring tales
of perseverance, determination and most of all, preparation.
It is the players’ and coaches’ commitment to detail
and preparation that stuck with me most in the days after
the big game. Our team clearly did its homework. They
cracked the “Omaha!” code through relentless study and
research. Through their intensive analysis, they discovered
quarterback Peyton Manning’s hand signals were as key
to reading the Denver offense as Skittles are to Marshawn
Lynch’s “Beastmode” personae.
They did the work, they executed the plays and they came
home champions.
Stepping into this new role at AWB, I appreciate the level
of research and preparation Coach Pete Carroll and his team
went through to achieve such a stunning and decisive victory.
That’s why we’re taking a page out of his playbook and
doing our own Super Bowl-intense research here at AWB.
In January — yes, before we clinched the Super Bowl
berth — three committees started their work toward
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association of washington business
answering these questions, and more. The committees,
Brand Transition, Advocacy and Governance, are all
chaired by AWB members and are populated by volunteer
members. The groups have been meeting since the start
of the new year with the goal of doing their
research and making recommendations to
the association’s Executive Committee by
April.
On the brand front: What do non-members
think about AWB? Our brand, the outward
representation of our association, must reflect
who we are and the values we embrace.
For our advocacy group, the questions center
around our work on “The Hill” in Olympia
and around the state during the election cycle.
How can we get more employers (and their
employees) informed about public policy?
How do we compel them to act?
And finally, with governance, is there balance
between small, medium and large businesses?
How should AWB be governed?
These questions get at the heart of who we
are and why we exist. They may not have easy
answers, but we owe it to ourselves, and the
future of this organization, to ask them.
AWB has a fantastic history in this state. In fact, this year,
AWB marks its 110th anniversary as the oldest and largest
statewide business organization. We have survived through
the years, and there were some lean ones, but as any good
employer knows all too well, you must continue to innovate
if you are to survive. Our products and services must meet
the needs of our members.
The work of these three committees will help ensure
that we continue to meet the changing needs of business
and the ever-changing political landscape, both here and
in the other Washington.
Admittedly it’s a stretch to compare AWB to the Seattle
Seahawks. But we can learn a lot from the team and the
work they put into becoming a world-class organization.
Our members want AWB to be the leading voice in
Olympia, the problem solver, the convener, the force that
ensures bad things don’t happen to good companies.
Someone has to do it.
Why not us?