This idea comes from an unexpected place: a football documentary about John Madden.

 

I’ve always been a fan of Wisconsin sports and the Green Bay Packers, so when I came across this story, it stuck with me. In the documentary, Madden reflects on his early days as a young coach. He was confident. Maybe overly so. He had already tasted some early success and thought he knew the game.

 

Then came an invitation to a coaching camp run by none other than Vince Lombardi, legendary head coach of the Green Bay Packers. So Madden shows up—pencil in hand, front row seat, ready to soak it all in.

 

And what does Lombardi do?

 

He spends eight hours on a single play.

 

Not a game. Not a strategy. One play: the Green Bay Packer Sweep, known now as the Lombardi Sweep.

 

That moment changed everything for Madden. He realized (painfully) that he knew nothing about football. Not at that level. Not like Lombardi did.

 

It was humbling. But it didn’t break him. It shaped him. He saw what mastery looked like. He saw what it meant to know something so deeply that you could teach it for eight straight hours. And he realized how far he had to go.

 

I think about that story a lot.

 

I use the Lombardi Sweep as a kind of mental model. It’s a metaphor for the gap between where you are today and the mountain of mastery that true experts stand on. And it’s a reminder that the journey often begins not with confidence, but with humility.

 

Would I be able to take the stage and talk for eight hours on a single concept in my own field? Could I explain every edge, every nuance? Could I field every question, every counterpoint? Could I teach it to someone else?

 

Usually, the answer is no.

 

And that’s the point.

 

The goal isn’t to know everything now. It’s to recognize how much more there is to learn—and to be motivated by that gap, not discouraged by it.

 

For Madden, it was that moment—being in the room with a master—that set the course for the rest of his career. He went on to coach the Raiders to a Super Bowl win. He became one of the most iconic voices in football history. But in his own words, it started with the Lombardi Sweep.

 

It’s a story close to my heart—not just because of the Packers—but because it speaks to anyone aiming for excellence. Whether it’s a profession, a craft, a sport, or a company: the first step toward greatness is to sit in the front row, sharpen your pencil, and realize just how much you don’t yet know.

 

Then go do something about it.