From The Green Notebook

Send us a text Griffin Brand and Dan Casey, co-authors of Bring Your Own Pencil: Bill Walsh’s Playbook for Winning at Anything, join Joe to explore preparation, leadership, and what separates sustained excellence from short-term success. It’s Super Bowl weekend, so football is part of the lens—but it doesn’t stay there. The discussion moves from Bill Walsh and the San Francisco 49ers to Dyson vacuums, Raising Cane’s chicken fingers, JSOC, and even 50 Cent. Different worlds, same underlying question: why do some people and organizations endure while others flame out? At the center is a simple idea: success is a lagging indicator. Drawing on Walsh’s leadership philosophy, Griffin and Dan explain why outcomes take care of themselves when leaders focus on standards, habits, and ownership of preparation—long before performance is visible. From there, the episode broadens into leadership more generally: perseverance, the myth of overnight success, and how constraints can sharpen thinking instead of limiting it. A key theme is the idea of a permanent base camp—maintaining standards that keep teams within striking distance of excellence without burning them out. They also spend time on legacy. Not wins or titles, but people. The episode reinforces a simple measure of leadership: how many people succeed because you took the time to invest in them. Watch the full interview on YouTube! Joe, Griffin, and Dan also discuss:  What “bring your own pencil” really means for leaders Alive time vs. dead time  How the path to the top is rarely a straight line How to sustain excellence without burning people or culture Why inputs matter more than outcomes How culture becomes real when it carries itself forward What legacy looks like when leaders step back Why the best leaders make their ceiling someone else’s floorWhether you’re watching the Super Bowl or leading a team far from the spotlight, this episode is a reminder that the work that matters most usually happens long before anyone is watching. A Special Thanks to Our Sponsors! Veteran-founded Adyton. Step into the next generation of equipment management with Log-E by Adyton. Whether you are doing monthly inventories or preparing for deployment, Log-E is your pocket property book, giving real-time visibility into equipment status and mission readiness. Learn more about how Log-E can revolutionize your property tracking process here! Meet ROGER Bank—a modern, digital bank built for military members, by military members. With early payday, no fees, high-yield accounts, and real support, it’s banking that gets you. Funds are FDIC insured through Citizens Bank of Edmond, so you can bank with confidence and peace of mind.  Logistics Systems Incorporated (LSI) is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business supporting DoD and federal civilian agencies with enterprise IT operations, global logistics support, cybersecurity, data, and mission support services. Founded by a veteran Army leader, LSI is known for operating inside complex, high-consequence environments where leadership, discipline, and execution matter. Their teams support large user communities and mission-critical systems across defense and civilian agencies.