Why the Mavericks Won

It's their "High Fives."  Read this article from the WSJ predicting their victory.

Someone actually studied game film of all NBA games this past season, counting how many physical acts of encouragement players give to each other in the heat of battle.  During the season and during the playoffs the Mavericks were among the top teams in high fives and other acts of encouragement.  The Heat, near the basement, especially during the playoffs. 

Clearly the Heat had better talent.  I'm not dissing the Mavericks here.  They are talented, but the Heat has the young superstars, and while the Mavs have some great wily veterans, it's clear talent wise that Heat has the advantage. 

To me it is clearly a case of culture leveraging talent to outperform the more talented competition.

Does your company culture catch people doing the right things, or does it find everything wrong?  Does your culture pick people up from failure or ignore or punish it?

Do you want to be the Mavericks or the Heat?