What the Mighty Ducks can teach us about running a solid team.

No, not the NHL’s Anaheim Mighty Ducks.  I’m talking the quack-quack-quacking, flying V-ing, knuckle-puck shooting, coached by Gordon Bombay original Mighty Ducks.

Flash back to the start of the movie. Bombay is a fast-talking, slick, jerk of a lawyer who gets himself into trouble and his punishment is to coach a team of hockey playing misfits.

At first, he is a miserable prick.  He bullies the kids, tries to force them to get better without providing any actual support, has zero fun and gets beyond frustrated when these kids have nothing to do with his agenda of winning.  

His team is a disaster, and he has taken any fun out of the sport for these kids.  The team is actually worse off than before he started as his negativity seeps into their hockey playing veins.

Slowly, after some sweet ‘90s montage music, he has them playing on the ice with eggs, laughing, being silly, truly getting to know one another.  SPOLIER ALERT: they end up coming together as a team who are now having fun AND winning. 

Key takeaways:

DON’T be a jerk

DON’T expect you know what people want

DON’T focus only on outcomes without having any fun

DO take time to get to know the people on your team

DO teach the team to work together and use each other’s strengths

DO have fun!

Now those are some quality life lessons from Coach Gordon Bombay.