Halftime.
Your football team is behind - way, way behind - and there's a feeling in
the locker room of heavy, clotted gloom. Everyone slouches on the floor
against lockers and benches. Doom- induced lethargy pervades the place.
Even the towels are too limp to swat at a teammate's derriere. And then
the coach appears. Moving purposefully to the center of the room, he eyes
the despairing players. He rubs his hands together as if they were
kindling for inspiration.
At this point, the coach can:
_Deliver a rousing, emotion-laced speech exhorting the players to press on
in the face of tremendous adversity and daunting odds, or
_Cue up a PowerPoint presentation on the six keys to victory, including
bulleted items such as "Proper blocking and tackling," "Exhibiting a
winning attitude," "Turning weaknesses into strengths" and "Don't focus on
the scoreboard," along with a multimedia photo montage of memorable
game-winning plays set to the soundtrack of "Rudy."
Which approach is more likely to send the team back onto the field poised
for a comeback?
