I have just used this tool on the AFL website to predict the end of the season. If my precisely calculated predictions are correct – which they will be – the top 15 teams should have a very happy ending.

Four teams are probably playing badly enough – at this stage of the season – to take home the wooden spoon;

• Brisbane – luckily they won a bunch of games early in the season. Oh, and Jonathon Brown would never let it happen
• Port Adelaide – A few home games late in the season and a new coach should help them avoid it
• West Coast – Probably a 50-50 chance with the Bombers, but I think they’ll win a couple of games at home late in the season and avoid it.
• Essendon – I can’t see any upside to their current situation. Their morale is lower than I’ve ever seen and I reckon they’re a genuine chance to snatch the spoon from the Eagles.

Once again, my apologies to anyone that was looking forward to the end of the season, at least now you won’t have to worry about watching it. Just take my word for it.

One of my most naturally talented sales staff had failed to meet his performance target for three straight weeks. This team member had not approached me for help or advice, he had been spending less time in the office and more time working from home – as my staff are entitled to do.

“He’s not interested in doing the hard work necessary to achieve results” I thought of my problem. The solution to my problem seemed obvious, but thankfully I confided in one of my business mentors before I took the action I thought to be appropriate.

I was promptly told to stop blaming other people for the problems that I had created within my business, and to take some responsibility.

“MY FAULT? How the hell is is my fault that he’s a lazy shit?” I responded.

“Why is he being lazy?” I was asked. “Why would somebody go to the effort of starting a new job and then all of a sudden decide to be lazy and stop giving it 100%?”. I couldn’t answer these questions, which in itself highlighted a major deficiency in my managerial skills.

The more I thought about it, of course it was my fault!

I chose to hire this guy. I chose to give him the level of support, training and attention he has received. So it was up to me to help solve his problems… not up to him to help solve mine.

I arranged a meeting with the staff member in question and told him that for the next 30 minutes, we were going to work together to solve any problems that he had which were causing him to be unhappy at work.

“What is preventing you from being happy and successful in this role? What can I do to help solve your problems?”

It turns out, that he needed some structural sales training and some more documentation to take to his sales meetings – but that is not the point. The point is that I took an active interest in solving his problems, rather than expecting him to be able to solve mine.

By solving his problems mine were quickly solved too, as he achieved 200% of his target this week, and more importantly enjoyed his week much more and felt a sense of ownership over his role.

Next time you feel upset about something, ask yourself…

“Whose fault is it?”

and then

“Who is in a position to fix it?”

1. Sexiness! If you’ve ever been rejected by a chick who was after a ‘bad boy’ type… well a scooter is your solution.
2. No Traffic! While your peers are stuck in stand-still traffic jams, you’re efficiently scooting between lanes!
3. Spare Time! Then with the extra spare time you have you can go and get a coffee with one of the thousands of hot chicks that want to date you – because you ride a scooter.
4. Fuel Efficiency! $4.50 per 100+kms… need I say more? You can spend the money you save on dates arranged with the above-mentioned hot chicks.
5. Fun! It’s quite an exhilarating feeling! Riding around, feeling the wind in your… helmet.
6. Enhance your reflexes! I’ve found that sometimes people accidentally fumble things like pies, fruit and rocks in your general direction when you’re on a scooter, and dodging them is great for the reflexes.
7. Make new friends! I find that when I pull up outside a work site when there are a bunch of blokes all standing around, they all seem to want to hang out an talk to me. One of them usually whispers something to one of the others about how awesome and tough scooters are and then they all laugh.
8. Fitness! Sometimes when the tiny fuel tank runs out of fuel, you get the added bonus of being able to push your scooter to the nearest fuel station to fill it up. This provides excellent lower body strength training.
9. Be successful like a celebrity! Over the years many celebrities have been spotted riding scooters. Jude Law, Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Owen Wilson, Madonna and even Mel Gibson have all been seen publicly scooting up a storm and look at all the great things that are happening with all of their careers at the moment.
10. Be true to yourself! You know you want one… so go ahead, do what makes you happy. And manly.

As a marketer I’m tempted to analyze the ins and outs of this publicity fest that will send his already unprecedented endorsement deals to a level that many of us never dreamed possible… but I’m a basketball fan first and foremost, so I’d rather explore what this means for the league I follow so closely.

Will Miami win a championship with James, Wade and Bosh?

Simply put, yes.

Will Miami win the Championship in this upcoming 2010-2011 season?

My answer is no.

I’ve thought about this for the past 10 hours since ‘The King’ made his announcement, and once all the hype is put to one side, we are left with some facts that cannot be ignored.

1. They’re unproven. If basketball was a sport in which results were decided by the combined individual brilliance of a team’s best players, then yeah pencil them in for the next 7 or so rings… but it’s not. Success or failure is realised on the back of the ability of 10 players to work together with greater fluency and effectiveness than the other team’s 10 players. Statistics tell us that when a team makes such significant changes to the top end of their roster, success just doesn’t happen immediately.
2. The Lakers are a very well balanced, proven team, with an exceptional leader and a coach that makes 3-peat championships look easy. How can we forget these guys so quickly! They are young, talented, motivated, experienced and very well positioned for a long-term dynasty of their own.
3. The great unknown of this team is the rest of the roster. Unless they can attract  some quality young talent willing to play for peanuts – a measly few million dollars worth of peanuts – then the efforts of the three superstars will go unrewarded. The Bulls had their superstars, but they wouldn’t have won their rings without a John Paxson/Steve Kerr/BJ Armstrong… Horace Grant/Dennis Rodman/Toni Kuko?… Cartwright/Longley.

I believe that Miami will be be able to attract some great raw talent to fill the roster and possibly even one or two former stars looking to end their careers with a ring or two. They’ll refine their game-style and develop a disciplined winning culture over the course of the next twelve months and then in the 2011-2012 we’ll see the beginning of one of the great dynasties.

But then again, what do I know… After his strong debut in 2004, I said Andrew Walker would have two Brownlow Medals by this time!