Ohtani's Winning Blueprint

As a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, my disdain for the Los Angeles Dodgers runs deep.

But let's give credit where it’s due.

They pulled off another World Series win. Two in a row "and still" the reigning world champions of baseball.

And one Dodger stands out: Shohei Ohtani.

Here’s what's important...in his mind, this win happened years ago.

At first, he visualized it.
He wrote it all down.
He hatched a plan.
Then he executed.

Below are Ohtani’s handwritten goals from his high school years.
Written in Japanese, translated into English.

Among them:
• Master English by age 19
• Win a World Series by age 26

But what’s most powerful is how he thought. Ohtani used a thinking tool called the Lotus Blossom, described in Michael Michalko’s book Thinkertoys.

The idea is simple: Expand one central idea into related ideas...like a flower blooming.

Here’s how it works:

1. Start with a central idea. Your goal or problem goes in the middle.
2. Surround it with 8 related ideas (your petals).
3. Each petal becomes the center of a new blossom. Expand again.
4. Repeat until you’ve mapped dozens of connected ideas.

It’s brainstorming with structure. It's a system for clarity.

So when you look at Shohei Ohtani’s success, it’s no surprise.
He designed it.

The question is...
How can you or your team use a system like this to lift the probability of success?

There's power in clarity.

Plan your work and work your plan.

And Go Giants!!