Soon after starting Kindergarten, I began organized sports. After all these years, still the greatest display of teamwork I ever witnessed happened when I was in Kindergarten.

I played tee ball for the Irondale-Eastwood Cardinals. I was disappointed playing for anyone but the Braves (styled after the Atlanta Braves, the only pro team I knew). To add insult to injury, the Braves won every game.

When we finally played the Braves, I knew at once why they never lost–they cheated. They didn’t just have a couple of cheaters; the whole team cheated as one amazing cheating machine.

Like any group of self-respecting big-league-wannabes, the Cardinals practiced fielding a hit then throwing the ball to first base. Our uncoordinated efforts usually allowed the runner to reach second base on a “ground rule” double while we fished the game ball from the home team’s dugout.

The Braves, on the other hand, bowled the ball across the infield. After fielding the ball, the Braves were taught to wind up and roll the ball to first base. The first baseman merely held his glove on the ground waiting for the ball to arrive. Thanks to the red, Alabama clay infields, the Braves rolled us too.

The Cardinals tallied just two hits in our fateful meeting. At the end of the season, the Braves’ foot-tall trophies dwarfed our four-inch-tall, third-place booby prizes.

Don’t copy the big boys if your team doesn’t have the muscle. Come up with your own winning strategy and get everyone to buy in. If you work together, you can be just as unstoppable as the cheaterific Irondale Braves.