Best Places to Work

"Culture's what it's all about."

--J. W. "Bill" Marriott, Board Chair, Marriott International

In anticipation of working on a Marriott engagement, I went to Miami, Florida, to observe the grand opening of the Marriott Biscayne Bay Hotel. I remember asking my waiter at breakfast if CEO Bill Marriott would be here for the occasion. He pointed toward the serving area and replied, "There's Mr. Marriott in the kitchen."  

So it is that Marriott International, with a penchant for detail in its DNA, and now led by CEO Arne Sorenson, shows up as one of 12 companies that have appeared on all 18 of Fortune Magazine's 100 Best Companies to Work For lists, currently ranked at No. 53. 

What the report has to say

If you're looking for ways to become a better workplace, the 15 March 2015 issue of Fortune is worth buying. The Best Companies list results from research conducted by Great Place to Work using a Trust Index survey distributed to a sample of employees at each company. Workers vote their companies onto the Fortune list using criteria related to the quality of their workplace cultures.

Here are three trends from the 100 Best report:

·     The best workplaces are getting better. Nearly two decades of comparisons can be made with the same basic methodology. In 1998 the average amount of training for managers and professionals was 41 hours. Hourly and administrative staffers received 33 hours. This year the numbers were 78 and 94 hours, respectively, nearly 80% higher

·     The best employers are better because more business leaders are focused on workplace culture as a competitive tool. Most firms on the list are winners in the marketplace and the workplace. Google explicitly attributes financial performance to benevolent people practices.

·     Each of the Best Companies has leaders who genuinely listen to their employees and craft specific policies and programs that suit today's workforce. Perks are only the tip of the iceberg in workplace cultures. As Scott Scherr, founder and CEO of Ultimate Software, observed: "The true measure of a company is how they treat their lowest-paid employees."

So who's No.1?

At the top of the list is Google, Mountain View, CA, with 44,862 employees and 2,500 job openings. Perks include free food; up to 12 weeks of fully paid baby bonding time.

Rounding out the top five:

2.   Boston Consulting Group, Boston, MA, with 2,701 employees and 1,000 job openings. Perks include: Social-impact leave of absence for up to three months.

3.   Acuity, Sheboygan, WI, with 1,039 employees and 150 job openings. Perks include no limit on tuition reimbursement; no cap on paid sick days for full-time employees.

4.   SAS Institute, Cary, NC, with 6,647 employees and 350 job openings. Perks include on-site childcare; fitness centers; pharmacy; and subsidized meals.

5.   Robert W. Baird, Milwaukee, WI, with 2,822 employees and 98 job openings. Perks include this rule: No jerks allowed. 

What else do we learn?

The healthcare industry is dominating the market for female talent by offering flexible work options and promoting many into leadership roles. 

The top five companies for women:

Meridian Health

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

Perkins Coie Law

Alston & Bird Law

Novo Nordisk Pharma

Other important takeaways

The tendency when reading these stories is to look at the perks. As good as they are, bonuses alone don't get companies on the 100 Best lists. What else to look for?

• That the essence of a great workplace is just that: an essence, an indispensable quality that determines its character. And to build a corporate organization around it. That process and practice are hard to copy since it is unique to each organization.
• Those high in the surveys focus on personal relationships, not transactions. "The key to creating a great workplace was not a prescriptive set of employee benefits, programs, and practices, but the building of high-quality relationships in the workplace," the report concludes
• Companies gain a competitive advantage by attracting and keeping the most valuable workers.
• Knowledge is becoming a commodity. What differentiates are those who excel at team building, collaboration, and cultural sensitivity. (Oxford Economics)
• The goal of leadership is not always having the best ideas but harvesting them from others.
• It's not wealth or prestige that motivates people; it's respect and peer help.

How influential is culture?

A company's culture ("the way people behave from moment to moment without being told") is even more critical than its leadership, according to a Deloitte survey of 3,300 executives. It's more valuable than corporate strategy.  

The culture was Merriam-Webster's 2014 word of the year.

Unfortunately, the report indicates that most employers need help figuring out where to begin when creating the necessary culture. However, the report offers some hints at what might be helpful:

Mission.         

Pursuing a bigger purpose and making sure everyone knows what that purpose is.

Colleagues. 

The best people want to go where the best people are.

Trust.             

Show people you consider trustworthy, and they'll generally prove you right.

Caring. 

Don't say it. Show it.

So what was Bill Marriott really doing in the kitchen?

Continued a long-held corporate tradition, established by his father, the late J. W. Marriott, Sr., when he opened the Hot Shoppes (A & W Root Beer) in Washington, D. C., in 1927. On that grand opening morning in downtown Miami, Bill Marriott cared for his employees, who now number just over 100,000 worldwide, ensuring they had everything needed to do their jobs. 

Leadership by example has proven essential to Marriott's long-term success. That includes attention to the correct details, especially when your name is on the door.

Strategist.com

© Bredholt & Co.

 

 

The Problem with Models

This is a second post on the concept of “best practices.” (See, Are Best Practices Stupid?, posted 1 February 2015.)

These insights are from Peter Senge's best-selling classic, The Fifth Discipline. Do they make sense to you? 

1.    If a learning organization were an engineering innovation such as the airplane or the personal computer, the components would be called technologies. 

2.   For innovation in human behavior, the components need to be seen as disciplines. By "discipline" I do not mean "an enforced order" or "means of punishment," but a body of theory and technique that must be studied and mastered to be put into practice.

3.    A discipline is a developmental path for acquiring specific skills or competencies.

4.   As with any discipline, from playing the piano to electrical engineering, some people have an innate "gift" but anyone can develop proficiency through practice.

5.   To practice a discipline is to be a lifelong learner. You "never arrive" as life is spent mastering disciplines. You can never say, "We are a learning organization," any more than saying, "I am an enlightened person."

6.   The more you learn, the more acutely aware you become of your ignorance. Thus an organization cannot be "excellent" in the sense of having arrived at permanent excellence; it is always in the state of practicing the disciplines of learning, of becoming better or worse.

7.   These disciplines of how we think, what we truly want, and how we interact and learn from one another are more artistic than traditional management disciplines.

 
Senge’s concluding thoughts

Practicing a discipline is different from emulating "a model." All too often, new management innovations are described in terms of the "best practices" of the so-called leading organizations. While interesting, such descriptions can do more harm than good leading to piecemeal copying.

Great organizations have never been built by trying to emulate another, any more than individual greatness is achieved by trying to copy a great person.

Strategist.com

© Bredholt & Co.

Are Best Practices Stupid?

"Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those we could never resemble."

--Samuel Johnson

I needed a lot of help when my first management opportunity came along in 1973.  I was 23 at the time.  It was long before the term "best practices" had been coined. And back then the notion of "shadowing" someone was reserved for sleuths, not those in a paneled office. 

Absent consultants, I resorted to intuition and decided to make contact with those in similar positions to see if I could spend a day with them and learn something that might improve the business I was managing, which happened to be a "turnaround" situation. 

Professionals are different

One thing discovered early on is that with the right letter of introduction fairly successful individuals seemed to always make time for us.  Over the years I have tried to make it a practice to respond positively to similar requests.

It was always instructive to observe others in assignments greater than my own knowing that, they too, likely started in a smaller enterprise and market and persevered with hard work and a few breaks along the way.  I watched carefully to see how they dressed, listened to their language, and noted how they handled themselves in their interactions with others.  Most often they tended to be low-key in temperament, soft-spoken types, as their years of experience did the talking for them.

I generally returned to the office with one or two ideas, mostly tactical.  I made it a point to run them by my direct reports, first, to see what they thought about the concepts, the timing and if they might work in our system and culture. 

Therefore an important question in best practices is this: 

Does the idea fit?   

Innovation is the real issue

In his book, "Best Practices Are Stupid," Steve Shapiro, who at one time led the 20,000-person process and innovation practice at Accenture, makes a case for innovation and is not against looking at others as a way to improve your organization.  

In an interview with BusinessNewsDaily, he told columnist, Ned Smith "best practices can work as long as you take the time to understand why they did it.  The problem is when best practices become a knee-jerk response to all the challenges and opportunities," Shapiro added.

The other problem is when companies look at best practices as a "one-size-fits-all."  Of course, indeed, what works for one business may not work in another but that fact is sometimes overlooked when searching for solutions to a difficult problem. 

Shapiro says: "Your culture may be different; your business model may be different.  Trying to replicate what worked perfectly for someone else may have the exact opposite effect on your business."

Best practices need to be customized not only to culture but to capacity--you may not have the talent and financial resources to effectively implement a given practice. 

The source of good ideas

"Expertise is the enemy of innovation," writes Shapiro.  

If true, where do ideas come from?  Often from those who have different points of view.  So the need exists to listen inside and outside for other perspectives.  Do you have contrarians in your office or on your team?  Be thankful they're there and give them the space they need to contribute, especially when their thinking and expressions do not match up to everyone else.

Are creativity and innovation the same thing?

The book suggests they are different.   "Innovation is an end-to-end process that starts with a problem or opportunity and ends in creating value," the author emphasizes.  "Innovation is a system, part of the environment and woven into the fabric of everything the organization does," Shapiro said in the interview.  

His conclusion:  Too much time is spent on idea generation and not enough on what's going to be implemented, how, and by whom.  

The key is learning to ask the right questions from the right people.  

Back to our original question

Are best practices stupid?

Only when used without thought.

Strategist.com

(C) Bredholt & Co.

Make Way for Tomorrow

"It's not the change that gets you. It's the transition."

--Dr. William Bridges

Have you ever wondered what generational transition looks like? 

What exactly does it mean, individually or corporately, when the U.S. Census Bureau reports there are now 320 million Americans? How does anyone begin to think about a world with seven billion people?   

Try comprehending not just how many human beings there are but the life stories, needs, and aspirations those numbers represent.  

To understand the coming age perhaps we should start with what's known about the age in which we live. In overlapping centuries, demographic shifts, at least in the U.S., look something like this:  

The silent generation, ninety-five percent of whom are retired, gave way to baby boomers. They in turn are making room in society and the workplace for Generation Xers and millennials also referred to as Generation Y. The name and period for the cohort following the millennials have yet to be officially determined.   

By the way, what's the first Fortune 500 company built by millennials? It's Facebook where the majority of 8,000 workers are under 30. 

Crossing a threshold

It's indispensable for any leader to understand the nature of a "liminal" moment where market positions are often occupied on both sides of a transition threshold. As one era ends and another begins knowing where to invest for the future becomes a consequential decision for leadership.     

What are the more important implications of varying generational behaviors, including values and technology, if you run a small business, large corporation, not-for-profit, medical practice, church, or institution of higher learning?

Hello tomorrow

As the calendar turns to 2015 it might be helpful to see tangible examples of generational makeovers currently playing out in different facets of life. Here are demographic successions which illustrate the changing face of global culture, one person and position at a time: 

Government

In 2013, Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands, age 75, decides it was time to step down after a 33-year reign. She turns the country's largely ceremonious Monarch over to her eldest son, Willem-Alexander, who became the first King of The Netherlands in over 120 years. His wife, Maxima, becomes Queen. 

Business 

Larry Ellison is stepping down as Oracle's CEO, a position he has held at the company since he founded it in 1977. Ellison, 70, is the world's top-paid CEO, bringing in $78.4 million last year.

Technically, his salary is only $1 -- he gets paid in company stock options. He's the fifth-richest person in the world, with a net worth of $51 billion, according to Forbes Magazine.

Safra Catz, 53, and Mark Hurd, 57, Ellison's top lieutenants, will replace him as co-CEOs. Catz has been Oracle's president since 2004, and Hurd joined Oracle after his unceremonious ouster as CEO of Hewlett-Packard in 2010.

Entertainment 

Jay Leno's last episode as host of NBC's "The Tonight Show" on 6 February 2014 scored the program's most-watched episode in more than 15 years. After 22 years as host, Leno, 64, turned over the reins to Jimmy Fallon, 40.

Education

You may not have heard of Cedar Crest College, Allentown, PA.  Cedar Crest is a liberal arts school for women with a 46-year-old president, Carmen Twillie Ambar. (The average age of a college president is 60). 

President Ambar, who was elected in 2008, represents a new generation of educational leadership. After all, it takes a lot of energy to continually raise money for scholarships, endowments, physical plant improvements, and new buildings.

Dr. Ambar holds degrees from Georgetown University, Princeton University, and Columbia University Law School.

Religion

At the age of 76, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 17, 1936, to Italian immigrants, became Pope Francis, leader of the 1.2 billion-member Roman Catholic Church. Pope Francis succeeded Pope Benedict who was 85 in retirement.      

While Pope Francis has drawn a lot of attention for his outspokenness on a variety of subjects, most recently his public criticism of Vatican bureaucracy (Roman Curia), it could be that another important driver of revisioning church leadership is taking place elsewhere in the system among a relatively younger generation ascending to the offices of bishop and cardinal. 

An example of that transition is Cardinal Woelki, a native of Cologne who was ordained for the priesthood there in 1985, receiving his red hat from Pope Benedict XVI in 2012. At the time he was the youngest member of the College of Cardinals at age 55.

News

For all the inroads made by digital sources over the past five years, most U.S. households still get their news from a nine-decade-old technology, television.

According to Gallup surveys, 55 percent rely on TV for current events followed by the Internet with 21 percent. Newspapers and other print publications are next with nine percent. Radio has a six percent share of the news audience. 

ABC News decided it was time for a redo on the set with long-time World News anchor Diane Sawyer, age 69, giving way to 40-year-old David Muir.

Family-owned businesses

There are 5.5 million family businesses in the U.S. contributing 57 percent of the Gross Domestic Product ($8.3 trillion). They are also responsible for 78 percent of all new job creation. According to Bloomberg BusinessWeek, 35 percent of Fortune 500 companies are family-controlled.

The average life span of a family-owned business is 24 years (familybusinesscenter.com, 2010). About 40% of U.S. family-owned businesses turn into second-generation businesses, approximately 13% are passed down successfully to a third generation, and 3% to a fourth or beyond (Bloomberg BusinessWeek, 2010).

Family-owned businesses are going through generational transition, too.

Consumers

The consulting firm, Accenture, released a study in 2013 on how to stay a step ahead of changing consumer behavior. Its premise is that new sources of growth are needed for more segments of the economy. The report underscored that "fast growth" is not a path to the future. 

Young adult markets don't seem to be a solution either as job and wage growth are proving not to be the same thing, at least for recent hires. College debt delays the purchase of housing and big-ticket items such as autos and appliances.

The most fertile ground, says Accenture, is changing consumer behavior or taking advantage of behavior that is already changing. The impediment to that approach is using old business models to address new buying patterns among all age groups. 

Questions

1. How will you reach new customers and build profitable relationships that are more beneficial than your competitors?
2. How will you hire, train, engage, and retain the next generation of workers?
3. In the coming year, what should you be doing personally, and organizationally, to make way for a tomorrow that's already here?

 Strategist.com

(C) Bredholt & Co.

 

Lost and Found

"Courage is not one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." 

 

--C. S. Lewis

 

The backstory

In late May 1943, the B-24 carrying 26-year old Louis Zamperini went down over the Pacific Ocean.  For nearly seven weeks --- longer than any other such instance in recorded history --- Zamperini and his pilot managed to survive on a fragile raft. 

 

(C) XB-24 in flight.

They traveled 2,000 miles, only to land in a series of Japanese prison camps, where for the next two years, Zamperini underwent a whole new set of tortures. 

His is one of the most spectacular odysseys of this or any other war, and "odyssey" is the right word, for with its tempests and furies and monsters, many of them human, Zamperini's saga is something out of Greek mythology. 

So wrote David Margolick in his 2010 review of author Laura Hillenbrand's second New York Times best-selling book, "Unbroken."  (Her first was the story of the 1930s depression-era champion Thoroughbred racehorse, "Seabiscuit.")

Who was Louis Zamperini?

As we learn from the early pages of "Unbroken's" compelling drama, Louis Zamperini grew up in Torrance, California. Before joining the military, Zamperini developed into a world-class runner due in no small part to his juvenile delinquency, breaking into homes and then fleeing the police who chased after him.

Zamperini ran the 5,000 meters at the 1936 Berlin Olympics and then followed that achievement by doing the same while a student at the University of Southern California where he came close to the four-minute mile. 



(C) At 19, Louis Zamperini  (left), was the youngest member of the 1936 US Olympic Track Team.

 

With World War II drawing near Zamperini enlisted in the Army Air Corps and was eventually stationed in Hawaii where he became a bombardier on the hard-to-fly B-24, sometimes referred to as the Green Hornet. It was that type of plane that went down while searching for a missing plane.

Lost at sea

Of the 11 men on board, only three--Zamperini; the pilot, Russell Allen Phillips; and the tail gunner, Francis McNamara-- survived. They did so by hanging on to a canvas-and-rubber raft which also remained from the wreckage.

According to author Hillenbrand, the men saved themselves by eating albatrosses that perched on the raft. Always inventive Zamperini would tie improvised hooks to his hands creating a claw used to catch fish that supplemented the fowl.

Fabric from a second raft was used to cover the men from the scorching sun. Their thirst was sometimes quenched by rainwater. 

Sharks seemed to always be nearby and at times jumped into the raft. They were attacked by using oars and when killed, the shark livers were added to the already limited menu.

After 33 days at sea, McNamara died. Rather than resort to cannibalism Zamperini and Phillips cast their crewmate overboard. How did the remaining two men pass the time?  We're told they extended their days by asking each other questions, cooking imaginary meals, and singing "White Christmas."

 

The Marshall Islands were spotted on the 46th day. Twenty-four hours later they were picked up by Japanese sailors. It's worth noting that while only one in 100 Americans captured in Europe died, nearly one in three perished in Japanese captivity. 

A prized possession

As an Olympian Louis Zamperini was in a special class of war prisoners.  

He was used as part of a propaganda campaign but also became a prime candidate for torture.  The unrelenting abuse included humiliation, starvation, medical experiments, slave labor, and disease.

His chief tormentor was what book reviewer Margolick called "a psychopathic sadist" named Mutsuhiro Watanabe, also known to prisoners as "the Bird."

With American bombers increasingly filling the skies American P.O.W. knew their time in the camps was short. According to some historians, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki likely saved those still held captive from the Japanese threat to kill all P.O.W.s rather than handing them over at the end.

Upon returning home

What was waiting for Louis Zamperini after the war?

Hillenbrand says it was the same thing facing other soldiers:  Alcoholism.  Flashbacks.  Nightmares.  And rage. 

However, in the fall of 1949, Louis Zamperini was converted to Jesus Christ by evangelist Billy Graham. It was at that point, not the last day as a P.O.W, that Zamperini's war and personal battles came to an end. It was from that spiritual experience Zamperini wrote to Watanabe forgiving him for all manner of indescribable torture.

A courageous author

Laura Hillenbrand wrote #1 selling books, "Seabiscuit" and "Unbroken," while suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome. 

Zamperini's celebrated story had already been the subject of three books.  According to an article in The Washington Post (November 28, 2010), Hillenbrand's famous subject wondered what more there was to be said.

 

"Laura told me she wanted to write my biography. I told her I was already finishing my memoir."  She said, "I must do it." I said, "Laura, I've milked this thing dry. There's nothing left." She said, " I must."

Those who've read "Unbroken" are grateful Laura Hillenbrand pursued and achieved that goal.

Now a movie

Universal Pictures bought the rights to Louis Zamperini's story years ago. Yet it fell to actress and director, Angelina Jolie, to take the project and turn "Unbroken" into a major motion picture.   

It's only fitting that a film depicting the life of someone who experiences spiritual healing premiers on Christmas Day. 

A well-deserved honor

After a 40-day bout with pneumonia, Louis Zamperini, age 97, who faced some of the worst of what the world has to offer, passed quietly in his sleep.  All members of his family were present. 

He was to be Grand Marshall of the 2015 Rose Bowl Parade on New Year's Day in Pasadena, California. Tournament of Roses officials has decided he is irreplaceable. The official car in which Zamperini was to ride will have an empty back seat to honor his memory. 

 

An inspiring life

Maybe you can find time this holiday season to read or see "Unbroken" on the big screen--a true story of survival, resilience, and most importantly, redemption. It's an adventurous journey of faith dedicated to anyone who is lost or broken, just as Louis Zamperini was, long ago and far away.     

Strategist.com

(C)  Bredholt & Co.

 

Measuring Your Progress

With 2014 winding down and a new year approaching, this might be a good time to glance at the past and begin preparing for 2015. 

Here are questions to help with that process:

Preface

Why does your organization exist? What is its primary purpose? Is that purpose clear to a majority of employees with whom you work? If not, why? 

Looking back

• What are 2 or 3 of the more significant accomplishments and/or highlights in 2014?
• What's the most important thing you needed to get done but didn't, and why?
• What emerged as important (positive or negative) but was not planned?
• We develop and learn the most from the right kind of experiences. What experience did you have this past year in which you took away an important lesson?
• What component of your business or nonprofit provided the most energy, positive influence, and distinctiveness overall? And why?

Looking ahead

• What do you gauge to be the number one priority for the coming year in your area of responsibility? What two additional priorities should be on that list?
• What assumptions are shaping your planning, hiring, and budgeting processes?
• What people's issues need attention? 
• What do your direct reports need more from you--less from you?
• Where could you use help to better carry out your responsibilities? Who will help you?
• Do you have any immediate concerns about your organization? If so, what are they?
• What two areas of health and strength can you build on in the coming year?

Getting personal

The prerequisite for managing others is being able to manage oneself. Life is a journey of endurance and perseverance. Therefore we must take care of ourselves in addition to looking after those we supervise.

One characteristic of a healthy leader is that they develop an ability to maintain a non-anxious presence amid a hyper-culture made up of goals, deadlines, competition, and technology. That is achieved through practice and discipline--by going through hard times and living to tell about them. 

It's enriching to be around individuals who combine confidence with humility and inner strength. They improve the quality of our lives and make us better people. I think of them as teachers as much as supervisors, highly prized by employees--and executive recruiters.

Here's a book from Harvard Business Review Press that might be beneficial to your development. It's entitled appropriately enough--"On Managing Yourself." 

This easy read is made up of eleven HBR articles including, "How Will You Measure Your Life," by best-selling author, Clayton Christensen, who teaches at Harvard Business School. Dr. Christensen reminds us there's far more to life than the profession we've chosen. 

Consider adding this book to your leadership library in anticipation of a successful 2015. 

Strategist.com

(C) Bredholt & Co.

Who's on First?

"Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;

The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,

And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;

But there is no joy in Mudville — mighty Casey has struck out."

-- Ernest Thayer, Casey at the Bat

 

By the time you read this post, the regular 162-game Major League Baseball season will have ended with divisional playoffs getting underway. The playoffs will be followed by the World Series between the American League and National League champions. 

The Kansas City Royals will play the Oakland A's in an American League wildcard slot (Update:  Royals beat the A's 9-8 in 12 innings). The Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants pair off in the National League wildcard game (Update: Giants 8-0 over the Pirates).

Play-ins, begun in 2012, add excitement for the fans and revenue for the teams from broadcast and cable rights. After all, professional sports is a business, first, and a game, second. 

Depending on how fast teams are eliminated from the playoffs, with best-of-five and best-of-seven series, plus weather and travel, a six-month baseball season can extend through a  potentially chilly October, at least for the final two teams.

College of baseball knowledge

Here's a pop quiz to test your current knowledge of the game.

What do the following Major League Baseball teams have in common? (Team payroll for 2014 season according to Associated Press) 

American League

• East:  Boston Red Sox ($162.8 million)
• Central:  Minnesota Twins ($85.7 million)
• West:  Texas Rangers ($136.0 million)

 National League

• East:  Philadelphia Phillies ($180.0 million)
• Central:  Chicago Cubs ($89.0 million)
• West:  Arizona Diamondbacks ($112.6 million)

In 2014 each team on both lists finished dead last in their respective divisions. Together the six teams won 418 games while losing 554.  

The combined payroll of the six cellar dwellers was $766 million. A losing season doesn't come cheap in the major leagues. 

Lessons from the game

What can organizations learn from "America's pastime?"

1. Winning is harder than it looks. As bad as it is for those on the bottom, winning teams struggled to get over the .500 mark. Just half of 30 teams played .500 ball or better during the season. The Los Angeles Angels (AL) had the highest winning percentage in baseball at .609. The Angels won 95 games, 20 more than in 2013, with the sixth highest payroll in baseball, $155.6 million. The Baltimore Orioles (AL) and Washington Nationals (NL) finished at .590, the second highest percentage.  LA, Baltimore, and Washington lost a combined total of 195 games.   
2. It’s possible to wear the same uniform and not be on the same team. There's still a lot of room for individual achievement in baseball, especially in a free-market and social media world. Some players show up and do their job--but never build good working relationships with other members of the team. It doesn't take long to figure out who's a team player, or not. Improving trust and cooperation makes a difference in team performance.
3. Bad luck can be overcome--sort of. There's a chance of getting hurt playing just about any sport, including baseball. Just ask the catchers. Or second basemen. Players get sick, injured, jet-lagged, care for loved ones, and become tired and discouraged. Hitting streaks come and go. Every team faces problems during a long season. What's the difference between winning and losing teams? Often it's the right leaders creating healthy environments which allow players to rest and heal, then get back in the game. 
4. It costs to get the right talent in place. The American League Division winners--Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels--and National League Division winners-- Washington Nationals, St. Louis Cardinals, and Los Angeles Dodgers--are among the top 15 payrolls in baseball. Even then there's no guarantee of peak performance. Just ask the Cincinnati Reds front office which spent $112.3 million on salaries for a next-to-last place finish in the NL Central. Keeping the right talent mix together for extended periods isn't easy with baseball's free agency and outsized salaries in the larger TV markets.     
5. There's always next year. Just look at the Boston Red Sox. World Champions in 2013. Last place in the American League East in 2014. Is it possible for the Red Sox to come back and win another World Series? After an 86-year drought, Fenway Park saw World Series championships in 2004, 2007, and 2013. Which reminds us, where would any team be without their fans? That's why in baseball hope springs eternal, even with Casey at the bat.

World Series ® is a registered trademark of Major League Baseball.

Strategist.com

© Bredholt & Co