The Right Fit
Gregory K. Moffatt, Ph.D.
In the 1980s one of
the greatest offensive backs in football history, Heisman Trophy winner and UGA
star Herschel Walker, was setting records in Dallas. He played three seasons
with the Cowboys until 1986, when the Minnesota Vikings inexplicably traded
five players and six future draft picks for Walker. It remains one of the most
questioned trades in football history.
Walker only stayed in
Minnesota for three seasons. Even though he set records in Minnesota, my most
vivid memories of those days wasn't of Walker crashing through the defensive
line, but rather it was seeing Walker standing on the sidelines with his helmet
under his arm. Minnesota underutilized him.
Reporters tried to
bait him into bad-mouthing Coach Jerry Burns, but he didn't bite. Ever the
gentleman, he simply said when the coach called his name, he was ready to go
in.
Just a few years
earlier, another football great was setting records in San Francisco. Since
being drafted by the 49ers in 1979, quarterback Joe Montana led his team to two
Super Bowl victories by 1985.
But that year the
49ers picked up yet another great, launching the 49ers into history with two
more Super Bowl wins under Montana's leadership. Wide receiver Jerry Rice was
fast and precise, and combined with the ever-accurate arm of Joe Montana, they
were unstoppable. The Montana-Rice combo was the perfect fit.
Even though there are
dozens of moving parts on a football field and everyone has to be good at their
jobs, I don't believe the 49ers would have gone on to win two additional Super
Bowls without Montana and Rice together.
One of the best
sports movies ever made was the movie Miracle.
This movie, starring Kurt Russell, tells
the story of coach Herb Brooks, who led the US Olympic hockey team to the first
victory in history over the Soviet Union in 1980.
Brooks had
innumerable obstacles to overcome, including resistance from his own directors.
Questioning his decisions, he was confronted in one scene and grilled about his
seemingly inexplicable decision not to draft the "best players in the
country."
Brooks responded,
"I'm not looking for the best players. I'm looking for the right
players."
The Viking's problem
with Herschel Walker was that they drafted the best player, but not the right
player. Walker performed best in the I-formation, but that wasn't an offense
that the Vikings ran.
The antithesis of
that decision was the choice by the 49ers to draft Jerry Rice. He was the perfect fit. Not only the best
player, but more importantly the right player.
So this foray into
football history (with a little hockey tossed in for fun) is that this
philosophy can be applied to almost all major decisions – a job, a move, or a
relationship, for example.
As my students, and
sometimes my own children, navigate their careers, they often seek my thoughts.
"Is this the best job for me now? It pays really well."
The "best"
job may not be the right fit. The magic of the perfect fit happens when the
right variables, not necessarily the best variables, are in sync. A lower paying job may be the right fit.
For many years I was
a lay leader of the preschool area at my church. All volunteers with infants to
5-year-olds worked under my leadership. I told them all the same thing: "If
you don't feel better when you leave church than when you arrived, then the
preschool area is the wrong fit for you." I didn't want the best
volunteers, but I wanted the right ones, and I'd rather have an empty slot than
one filled by the wrong person.
The Chick-fil-A
corporation has this mentality. Service is almost always good in nearly any
CFA, but with any other fast-food restaurant I'm surprised when I get good
service. The difference is in the hiring philosophy. CFA would rather have no
employee in a position than the wrong one. Most other fast-food restaurants
would rather take a chance by filling a slot with a marginal employee instead
of having an unfilled position. The outcome of those two approaches is obvious.
In my entire career,
I've never done anything exclusively for money. Consequently, no one owns me
and even more importantly, as one of my undergraduate professors has said many
times, I've never had to work a day in my life. I've passed on huge salaries,
television programs, and prestigious positions. Not because they weren't
worthy, but because I could see they were the wrong fit for me. And that has
led to a long career that I have loved.