So what is offense and what is defense? Hard to really say. It is not as clear as it is with sports. The only way I can say it is like this …

It is advisable to go ahead, be aggressive and go for points. Just remember to be vigilant and keep your guard up while on the move.

The defense doesn’t get enough credit.

I remember training for a few months with a boxing coach. As we hit our targets and did some light workouts, he would constantly say … “Defense wins games.” I wouldn’t go so far as to say that advocacy is the key to business and personal success in and of itself, but it certainly plays a huge role.

I recently wrote an article called: “Assume the worst and make it count.” Assuming the worst is often mistaken for negative thinking. Defensive thinking is confused with pessimism. Far from there. I can try it …

Here’s how Steve Jobs took the worst, thought defensively, and made it all worth it …

I really enjoyed Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. It’s an amazing book and you should grab it. So many lessons to learn from Jobs.

He assumed the worst when he started his career. He had the feeling that he would die young. That feeling was part of the fuel for his amazing accomplishments. He knew he didn’t have much time. Relatively speaking, all of us really don’t have much time.

Assuming the worst is how the world got the iPhone

It was 2005. The iPod was kicking butt. It accounted for almost half of Apple’s sales. Thinking defensively and assuming the worst would launch the smartphone that changed the world.

Mobile phones were supposed to eventually have the ability to store music. If that happened, iPod sales would suffer. The original idea was to merge iPod technology with a cell phone. It didn’t go well because Apple partnered with Motorola and the two just couldn’t get it to work.

Apple leaves Motorola.

Jobs was always pushing to combine hardware, software, and design in all Apple products. There was already a secret project underway. Apple was working on a tablet (what we now know as an iPad). Simply put, they realized that what they were working on would also be the foundation for their new phone. Thus was born the iPhone. It was born out of defensive thinking. It was born of assuming the worst.

So think defensively! It’s okay, no matter how much pain your “positive thinking, head in the sand” friends cause you. Assume the worst because you never know what it might lead to.