Executive coach Marshall Goldsmith said it best: “What got you here won’t get you there.” That idea applies to nearly everything, but it is especially true in sports and business. Competitors constantly look for weaknesses to exploit, so even when you are winning, you need to reflect on what can be better.
In episode 101 of Maximum Octane, Kim Hickey is joined by ATI performance coaches Jason Patel and Geoff Berman to break down the Detroit Lions’ second-half collapse against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship and what shop owners can learn from it. They discuss adaptability, knowing your weaknesses, owning your failures, why shops start strong and then decay, and the kind of halftime pep talk every leader needs.
What You Will Learn
- What did the Lions’ meltdown teach us about growth strategies
- Why adaptability is essential
- The importance of being aware of our auto shop’s weaknesses
- What can you do to fail less next time?
- Why do so many auto shops start strong and then decay?
- What kind of half-time pep talk is the one you should be working on
What the Lions’ Meltdown Teaches About Growth
The episode opens with the Lions’ collapse after a strong first half. The 49ers adjusted, the Lions did not, and the game slipped away. Jason and Geoff use the game to illustrate a business truth: a strong start does not guarantee a strong finish. Shops that rely on what worked yesterday can be overtaken by competitors who adapt faster.
In a shop, the first half might be a busy spring, a successful launch of a new service, or a strong year of car count growth. The temptation is to assume the same approach will keep producing the same results. Meanwhile, a competitor upgrades its digital inspections, a dealership starts aggressive service marketing, or a key technician leaves. Leaders who check the scoreboard often, even during good stretches, are the ones who notice when the other side has adjusted. Growth depends on reviewing results regularly and making changes before a lead disappears, not after.
Why Adaptability Is Essential
Around the 9 minute mark, the coaches explain why adaptability matters. Markets shift, customer expectations change, technology evolves, and employees come and go. Leaders who adapt quickly keep their businesses moving forward. Those who stick rigidly to the old game plan fall behind.
ATI’s How to Prepare Your Shop for Change and Move Your Business Forward in a World of Increasing Change! offer practical guidance.
Adaptability is not the same as constantly changing direction. Shops still need stable core values and proven processes. What adapts is how those processes are carried out as conditions change. Electric and hybrid vehicles, advanced driver assistance systems, new parts sourcing challenges, and evolving customer communication preferences all require adjustments in training, equipment, and workflow. A useful habit is a quarterly review where the leadership team asks what has changed in the market and what the shop needs to do differently in response.
Know Your Own Weaknesses
Jason and Geoff stress the importance of knowing your shop’s weaknesses as well as you know your competitors’. Many owners can list what other shops do wrong but struggle to see their own blind spots. Honest assessment, from coaches, peers, and the team, helps uncover them.
Blind spots are often hiding in the numbers and in plain sight on the shop floor. Comebacks, declined work, slow phone response, a cluttered waiting area, or an advisor who rushes through estimates may feel normal because the owner sees them every day. Mystery shopping your own shop, reading every online review carefully, and asking a trusted peer to walk through the facility can surface issues that are easy to overlook. Anonymous team surveys also help, because technicians and advisors frequently see weaknesses that never reach the owner’s office.
How to Fail Less Next Time
Around the 17 minute mark, the conversation turns to recognizing failures. Leaders who own their mistakes create a culture where others can do the same. That openness leads to faster learning and fewer repeated mistakes. Leaders who blame others teach their team to hide problems.
A simple after-action review helps turn mistakes into lessons. After a comeback, a lost customer, or a missed goal, the team asks four questions: what was supposed to happen, what actually happened, why there was a difference, and what will change next time. The focus stays on the process rather than on blame. Over time, these reviews reveal recurring causes, such as unclear handoffs or missing checklists, that can be fixed permanently. Owners who model this openly make it safe for everyone else to speak up early.
Why Shops Start Strong and Then Decay
Geoff and Jason discuss why so many shops start strong and then decline. Early energy and hustle carry a new business. Over time, complacency sets in, systems are not updated, and the owner stops pushing for improvement. Avoiding that decay requires continuous learning and a willingness to change. George Zeeks explores this in Take Your Auto Repair Shop Further Faster.
Decay is usually slow, which is what makes it dangerous. Training gets skipped because the shop is busy. Meetings are canceled. Key performance indicators stop being reviewed. New employees learn shortcuts instead of standards. None of these feel like a crisis on their own, but together they erode results. Protecting a few non-negotiable routines, such as weekly numbers reviews, regular training, and consistent one-on-one conversations with key people, keeps the shop from drifting back toward where it started.
The Halftime Pep Talk
The episode closes with the kind of halftime pep talk leaders should be working on. When things start to slip, the leader’s words and actions can refocus the team. Effective pep talks are honest about what is not working, clear about what needs to change, and confident about what the team can achieve. Motivating technicians through rough stretches is part of positive leadership.
The coaches also recommend Marshall Goldsmith’s book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, along with a couple of classic comedy bits for a laugh.
A good halftime talk in a shop might happen at a Monday morning meeting after a rough month. It names the problem plainly, such as a drop in average repair order or a rise in comebacks. It explains the specific adjustments for the next stretch. Then it reminds the team what they have already accomplished together. Leaders who skip the honesty sound out of touch, and leaders who skip the encouragement leave people deflated. Both parts are needed to turn a slide into a comeback.
Common Mistakes Leaders Make When the Game Turns
When results start slipping, some leaders panic and change everything at once. New pay plans, new software, and new processes all launched in the same month overwhelm the team and make it impossible to tell what actually helped. Others do the opposite and wait, hoping things will turn around on their own.
Another common mistake is diagnosing the problem alone. The owner decides what went wrong without asking the people closest to the work. Better adjustments come from gathering input, choosing one or two high-impact changes, communicating them clearly, and tracking whether they work before adding more.
Building a Habit of In-Game Adjustments
Football coaches do not wait until the end of the season to adjust. They review what is happening every quarter and at halftime. Shops can build the same rhythm. Weekly numbers reviews catch short-term problems. Monthly meetings look at trends in car count, average repair order, gross profit, and customer feedback. Quarterly planning sessions step back to ask bigger questions about direction and competition.
When these reviews become routine, adjustments are smaller and less stressful because problems are caught early. Leaders also get better at reading the situation, which is the real skill behind adapting faster than the competition.
Second-Half Adjustments for Your Shop
- List three things that worked for your shop five years ago but may not work now.
- Ask your team what they see as the shop’s biggest weakness.
- Share one mistake you made recently and what you learned.
- Plan your own “halftime talk” for the next slow stretch.
Geoff’s earlier episode, Build an All-Star Bench for Your Auto Repair Shop, and Jason’s How to Recruit a Swifties’ Army for Your Auto Repair Shop are great follow-ups.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if my auto repair shop has become complacent?
Warning signs include skipped training, meetings that rarely happen, key numbers that nobody reviews, and processes that exist on paper but not in practice. Flat or declining results during a period when the market is healthy are another signal. If the shop is doing things the same way it did several years ago and no one can explain why, it is worth taking a hard look at what has changed around you.
How can a shop owner identify the business’s weaknesses?
Combine data with outside perspective. Review comebacks, declined work, customer reviews, and employee turnover for patterns. Ask the team, ideally through an anonymous survey, what gets in the way of doing great work. Invite a coach, peer owner, or trusted vendor to walk through the shop and point out what they notice. Weaknesses that the owner has stopped seeing are often obvious to someone new.
What is the best way to recover after a bad month at my shop?
Start by understanding what happened before reacting. Look at the numbers to see whether the issue was car count, ticket size, efficiency, or something else. Talk with the team about what they experienced. Then choose one or two specific adjustments, communicate them clearly, and track progress weekly. Acknowledge the setback honestly while reminding the team of past wins, so the focus stays on improvement rather than blame.
Why is adaptability important for auto repair shop owners?
Vehicle technology, customer expectations, labor markets, and competition all keep changing. A shop that relies on the same methods year after year will gradually fall behind competitors who adjust their training, equipment, marketing, and processes. Adaptable owners review their results regularly, stay curious about new approaches, and make changes deliberately. That keeps the business relevant and gives employees confidence that the shop has a future.
Resources and Links From This Episode
- Book: Marshall Goldsmith, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful
- Andy Griffith, What It Was Was Football
- Abbott and Costello, Who’s On First?
Connect With the Guests
- Geoff: LinkedIn
