Who Do We Root For?

Years ago, when my dad could still get around reasonably well, I took him to the old parks for baseball weekends. Wrigley Field, with its stunning urban-ivy on brick. Fenway Park with its Green Monster towering like a remembered mythology through its storied history.

Sure, we caught games at these historic parks, but the trips were never just about baseball. They were about belonging, connection, and stories. Fathers and sons, or mothers and daughters, cheering for our team or player of choice, sharing stories at the slow pace of the game.

Over time, the meta-arch of who we cheer for came into view. People don’t root for a team or player in the same way.

Some rooted for the home team, regardless of where they were from (like my dad and I). Some support the dynasties; the teams that are expected to win. Others leaned toward the underdogs and long shots.

That difference shows up at work, too.

Every organization has its favorites. The team that always delivers. The leader whose reputation arrives with great expectations. The product line, brand, or organizational function that gets funded first. Their success feels steady, predictable, reassuring. It offers a feeling of control.

Psychology has models for this.

The halo effect pushes past wins to spill forward into future trust.

Confirmation bias keeps our beliefs intact, so we feel safer in a perpetually shifting world.

Evidence that fits is welcomed; evidence that doesn’t fit our embedded stories is pushed aside. Over time, attention follows reputation. Resources follow attention. Advantage gathers where advantage already lives.

Until things change.

Because permanence is fragile, and one of the things you can really count on is change. When a favorite stumbles or a dynasty nears its end, the uncertainty that follows is often louder than the failure itself. The issue is that the story we told ourselves, consciously or not, went unquestioned for too long.

Then there are the underdogs.

The Cubs before 2016. The Red Sox before the curse broke. The small team inside your organization doing unsung and thoughtful work without a spotlight. Underdogs and misfits tend to live at the edges; fewer resources, less attention, little care. That edge carries risk and possibility.

The underdog asks something of us: patience, imagination, belief before proof. They tell us that growth rarely arrives fully fleshed out and completely polished. Think: alpha, beta, minimum viable product development.

In human systems, expectations matter, as they’re colored by the often-unconscious stories we tell and believe. When leaders extend belief, capacity expands for the entire team. When belief is withheld, potential tightens. People tend to become what the environment makes room for.

This is where visibility matters.

Favorites are easy to see. Their work travels fast. Their wins echo. Underdogs regularly operate below the surface, like a root system that hasn’t yet poked through the soil’s surface. Their progress shows up slowly, sometimes sideways, sometimes unexpectedly. All cultures hold the tension between what is already visible and what is still forming.

When organizations reward only what is obvious, people, cultures, and potentiality narrow. When they protect only what already wins, renewal stagnates.

Bias quietly reinforces this sorting.

Recency bias crowns last quarter’s success.

Negativity bias hardens a single mistake into identity.

Social proof fills rooms with expectations and historical norms before newness can reveal its possibilities.

These forces decide who gets attention and patience, who gets airtime, and who gets another chance. Over time, they shape psychological safety. And without safety, learning thins out, risk disappears, and people begin managing perception instead of doing the work.

So the question isn’t whether you root for the favorite or the underdog, it’s what your cheering limits.

Favorites offer steadiness. Underdogs offer renewal. Healthy cultures learn how to hold both. They reward excellence without mistaking it for inevitability. They notice what is emerging before it demands attention.

If you want to understand your culture, listen closely for who you’re rooting for and that informs that rooting. Listen for who gets defended, who gets overlooked, where belief arrives early, and where it never quite shows up.

If you want a more trusting team, a culture of belonging or a magnetic brand that attracts more of the right customers, I can help. If you'd like to explore if working together makes sense, drop me a line.

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