Matt Mayberry
Winning Plays
ISBN: 978-1-4555-6828-4
For many people, goal setting is probably one of the most difficult but necessary things that must be done in order to successfully run a business. Your business or startup isn’t going to go anywhere if you don’t have at least a few definitive plans for the future. I struggle with goal setting, so I thought I’d attend Matt Mayberry’s session on goal setting during Denver Startup Week 2019. During his hour-long presentation, attendees were given a copy of his autobiography, Winning Plays. He covered a great deal of what is in the book during his presentation, but this review will focus solely on the content of the book.
Overall, the book was a quick, fast-paced read covering Mayberry’s struggles with drug addiction in high school, how he turned everything around at the end of high school and during his time at Indiana University, signing with the Chicago Bears, and getting to play during the preseason, when he was injured and released from the team. I was impressed with his seemingly unending positive outlook, even when times were the toughest. I’m not sure if I could have bounced back the way he did time and time again.
The book was an incredibly quick read, as many of these types of books are. Throughout the book, Mayberry included short-range and long-range calls to action, which I saved for the end of each chapter, as not to distract from the main text and slow down the pace of reading the book. If I were writing the book, I would have placed these at the end of each chapter. Many other books that I’ve reviewed save this type of material for the end of each chapter or each section, depending on the layout of the book. I tend to engage more when questions and comments are placed at the end of the chapter.
The book read at times like a standard autobiography, but at other times like a self-help book. It was a strange dichotomy, but it seemed to work for the most part. Using his story as a model for self-help did seem to work in this book, but writing an autobiography this early in his life seems a bit odd. In 20 or 30 years, I hope that Mayberry decides to write an updated version of the book, to include what he’s learned over a career.
The other thing I thought was missing from the book was much of the information contained in his talk during Denver Startup Week. Much of the goal-setting material that was presented during the talk would have been great to include in the book. It might have helped take away some of the awkwardness of writing an autobiography this early in his career, just using some anecdotes from his life in explaining how he has developed his goal-setting process. It would then fall squarely into the self-help category, and probably would have improved the flow of the text.
Overall, 7/10, would recommend as a self-help book that uses a compelling story to show how someone can overcome addiction and failure and rise from the ashes. I wish there had been a bit more substance to the book, and Mayberry is much more engaging in person as a professional speaker. If you have the chance to listen to his story in person, I would recommend that over reading the book.