Explaining SWOT with the help of Football Quarterbacks

Explaining SWOT with Football Quarterbacks

                For those of you who don’t know, in business a SWOT analysis is a planning step that looks at the internal and external factors that impact your business. SWOT is an acronym that stands for strengths, weaknesses (internal), opportunities and threats (external). A SWOT analysis is also great for yourself or if your part of any kind of team like a band, group, sports team or a sales team. Recently during my studies I have come across an interesting association with SWOT and an NFL quarterback. I’m sure there are a lot of different analogies you can use but for you sports fans (and I know you’re out there!) I will be using football to explain SWOT.

Strengths

                The first step in the SWOT process is figuring out your biggest strengths and putting your trust in them. For a quarterback, this can be the realization that one of your wide receivers has a huge play ability. This is a factor that is internal meaning the quarterback can control this. (Something you can’t control is usually external i.e. someone on the other team). In knowing the strength of his wide receiver, the quarterback can rely on him to make big plays and adjust his game plan accordingly.

                With a personal example to further explain, my biggest strength is I am a chameleon. Some say it’s because I’m a Gemini but I like to believe that I’ve been taught how to play nice. When I say “chameleon” I’m saying that I can adjust my personality to fit those around me. From sports fans to comic book nerds, from the analytical to the philosophical to the right brain thinker, I have the ability to converse with anyone. As a self SWOT, being personable and a chameleon is my biggest strength that I can utilize and control to my advantage.

Weaknesses

                During the second step in the SWOT process, you’ll be analyzing your internal weaknesses. Personally, my biggest weakness is I am a procrastinator. I will put something off until the last darn second and it is a terrible habit. This is something I know, this is something I can control, which proves that it is internal. For the most part, a little micromanaging here and there can mitigate my weakness but all in all I still do it every day.

For a quarterback, this can be knowing that your offensive line isn’t too great (sorry Jay Cutler). It is something you can control by adjusting your game plan. You can hand the ball off to the halfback more often or, make quicker throws to your receivers as standing in the pocket won’t be much of an option. Once you recognize a weakness, you can plan to overcome that weakness.

Opportunities

                This is the first step in the external analysis, in other words an opportunity is something you can’t control necessarily but, it is something you can take advantage of. When a quarterback recognizes that his wide receiver, who is 6’4, is one on one with a 5’11 cornerback, there is a great opportunity that he can throw it up to his receiver and he’ll most likely come down with the ball. Another example could be that the quarterback recognizes that a defense is going to blitz, so he audibles accordingly, takes six steps back and burns the defensive on a large throw.

                For those of you who know nothing about football, I will use a personal example. One of my goals in the next year is to lose some weight like most of us North Americans around Christmas time. The only problem is I lack the resources or, in other words I’m broke and can’t afford a gym (weakness). Down the street from my house is a community centre that has a great, affordable workout facility that is only $20 a month or $120 a year to use (compared to $50 a month at most other gyms). Here, there is a great opportunity to achieve my goal of losing some weight by utilizing and taking advantage of an external factor that I cannot control.

Threats

                The final and most difficult part of a SWOT analysis is looking for external factors that can potentially impact your business in a negative way. In football, the quarterback has an easier look at threats as there is a whole defense looking to take him down in any way possible. Specific threats could be as easy as going up against J.J. Watt or Brian Urlacher. Threats that might be more difficult to anticipate could be new plays by the defensive coordinator, injuries or bad weather. All threats are hard to anticipate but in any case, it’s important to recognize these threats and put plans into place to mitigate them.

                In my case, a threats can come in all shapes and sizes. They can be as big as losing my arm in a terrible car accident, losing my buss pass, getting a fine for something I didn’t know I was doing or something I can anticipate like my upcoming tuition fees.

In a SWOT analysis, threats and opportunities are the hardest to asses. There is so much surrounding a person, a team or a business that there is an infinite amount of external factors that can have an impact. Here is another acronym to help you out with your opportunities and threats assessment known as CREST.

Competition- By looking at your competition you can assess their strengths and weaknesses and ultimately figure out opportunities and threats from them.

Regulatory- Every country, city, state and province has different laws, every game has different rules. Learning these rules can clearly outline opportunities and threats that can be addresses.

Economic- What happening in the economy that could affect me or my business?

Social- What’s happening in society that could affect me or my business?

Technological- What types of technologies are out there that could help or hurt my business?

                I use SWOT analyses all the time. Recently I was put into a group for a project where we all did a SWOT to figure out if one person’s strengths could help overcome another’s weakness. If you’re in a band or on a team, you can really figure out the different dynamics of your group and use different people to fit in particular roles. Utilize your strengths, overcome your weaknesses, take full advantage of opportunities’ and mitigate possible threats. Not just for business or for football, but for everyday life.