MLB Doesn’t Have a Technology Problem. It Has a Priorities Problem.
I was at Camden Yards last Wednesday night, sitting behind the Orioles dugout with a clean look straight down the left-field line. Pete Alonso hit a ball that should’ve been his 30th home run of the year. From where I sat, it was fair. So did most of the ballpark — and yes, I’m a lifelong Orioles fan, but this isn’t homer bias talking. MLB’s own replay system said no home run. And here’s the part that should bother every fan of this game, not just ours: it couldn’t fully explain why. Replay exists because baseball once got a call wrong and owned it. In 2010, umpire Jim Joyce blew a call that cost Armando Galarraga a perfect game. Baseball didn’t bury the tape. It fixed the system. That’s the origin story, and it’s still paying off — MLB even rolled out Hawk-Eye tracking technology for the strike zone this year. Good. But the rule for overturning Alonso’s call required a “definitive” camera angle, and Camden Yards doesn’t have the one that would have settled it. I’m not the only one saying so. Chris Bassitt, our starting pitcher, called it “crazy in 2026.” Manager Craig Albernaz pointed out the dugout iPads were already showing ball-tracking data that contradicted the call on the field. Alonso himself proposed the fix: a pylon camera, like the NFL uses, shooting straight up the line. Here’s the twist that should make the league sheepish: MLB isn’t short on cameras. It installed that Hawk-Eye system in all 30 ballparks this year — real money, real infrastructure, real commitment to getting calls right. It just pointed the cameras at the strike zone and left the foul poles and lines alone. MLB has the calculator. It keeps choosing to do the math by hand. And this is not uncharted territory. Tennis makes automatic, final line calls with 18 cameras and zero judges. Soccer mounts cameras on every goalpost and pings the referee’s watch within a second of the ball crossing the line. The NHL just outfitted all 32 arenas with cameras aimed at the blue lines and the net. Even the NFL’s imperfect pylon cams at least try to answer the question. ‘Could not definitively determine… the call stands’ isn’t a ruling. It’s an institution hiding behind a rule instead of using the technology it already owns. Process is not the same as trust. MLB can own the miss, or it can keep hiding behind procedure. It has the cameras. It has the vendor. It has thirty ballparks and thirty foul poles. Install the cameras. Get it right.
Convenience Creates Fragility: What Starbucks’ App Outage Really Exposed
On July 6, the Starbucks app went dark — nearly 2,000 frozen orders, inaccessible rewards, and by some estimates, more than 30% of the day’s mobile business disrupted in a single morning. That number matters more than the outage itself. It’s proof of something I call reputational elasticity — how much a brand can stretch before a failure snaps into a full-blown trust crisis. Some brands are more elastic. They face limited competition, so customers wait out an outage because there’s nowhere else to go (utility companies). Others are less elastic — competition is fierce and trust was already thin, so one bad morning sends customers straight to the next app on their home screen. Here’s the part most leaders miss: Starbucks isn’t just selling coffee. It’s selling convenience — a behavior, a routine, a friction-free two minutes wedged into someone’s morning. The product isn’t the espresso. It’s the absence of effort. That’s exactly why convenience creates fragility. The more a brand eliminates friction, the more its customers forget how to tolerate any. A bank card gets declined and people feel panic, not patience. GPS drops mid-drive and people feel stuck, not resourceful. A gym key fob fails twice and people just stop trying the door. Starbucks, Costco, DoorDash — brands built on convenience — all carry this same exposure. The easier you make life, the less runway you have when the system breaks. I’ve never seen a lack of composure make a situation better, and the same holds for leaders who build convenience without building resilience behind it. Sell convenience if you want loyalty. But protect it like the asset it is — because the moment it fails, elasticity is the only thing standing between an inconvenience and a crisis.
Losing Streaks Don’t Build Character. Leaders Do.
Every team loses. Every leader gets tested. The only question is what you’re made of when the scoreboard turns against you. I’ve spent my career studying crisis in police departments, in boardrooms, in government, on the field. And I’ve learned this: the tactics change. The principles never do. In 1988, the Orioles lost their first 21 games. Worst start in modern baseball history. Manager Frank Robinson didn’t have a playbook for that. He had something better: principles. He stood in front of the cameras every single day. He protected his players from the noise. He never let the streak define who they were, only what they were going through. That’s not a baseball story. That’s a leadership story. I’ve never seen a lack of composure make a situation better. Composure isn’t weakness. It’s discipline under fire. It’s the decision to lead when everyone around you wants to react. Remember, the shadow of a leader is alive and well. And winning? Winning solves a lot of problems. But winning doesn’t start with a scoreboard. It starts with fundamentals: teaching them, communicating them, believing in them long enough for the results to catch up. Stick to your knitting; a strong foundation survives. That’s the five-star discipline I’ve built my career on: teach, communicate, motivate, empower, hold people accountable. Not because it’s trendy. Because it’s timeless. It worked in a police department decades ago. It worked in a dugout in 1988. It works in a boardroom today. Crisis is not something to fear. It’s a growth strategy. The Orioles proved it. A year after the worst start in baseball history, they nearly made the playoffs. Process is as important as outcome. Every leader will lose. Not every leader will lead through it. The ones who do are the ones still standing when the record finally catches up to the effort. Rob Weinhold is Founder & CEO of Fallston Group and author of The Art of Crisis Leadership.
Your Reputation Is a Status Signal, Whether You Plan It That Way or Not
Inspired by Seth Godin’s “Status Symbols“ Seth Godin recently published a sharp little post listing the countless ways humans signal status — the college sweatshirt, the dog breed, the stroller, the email response time. His conclusion: “Humans care about status and affiliation. We’ve spent our lives being very good at noticing both.” He’s right. And in the world of crisis and reputation management, that insight carries enormous weight. Here’s what I preach: your reputation is always transmitting. Every decision you make — what you say, what you don’t say, how fast you respond in a crisis, who speaks for your organization — is a status signal. Your stakeholders are reading every one of them. You are continually ‘telling a story’ whether you realize it or not. Think about it. When a crisis hits, and a CEO goes silent for 72 hours, that silence is a signal. When a company issues a cold, legal-scrubbed statement with zero humanity, that’s a signal. When a leader steps in front of the camera, owns the moment, and speaks with clarity and conviction — that, too, is a signal. A signal of trust. The problem? Most leaders don’t realize their reputation is broadcasting 24/7 until it’s too late. I’ve spent decades advising organizations in their worst moments. The ones who recover fastest aren’t necessarily the ones who made the fewest mistakes. They’re the ones who understood that every action, or inaction, shapes how the world sees them. Reputation isn’t built in a crisis. It’s revealed by one. So, before the next storm hits, ask yourself: what signals is your organization sending today? Because your stakeholders are already watching, reading, and deciding what you stand for. It’s what we call your Reputational Piggy Bank. Build it intentionally. Protect it fiercely. Ensure an adequate balance so the inevitable withdrawal doesn’t force closure. — Rob Weinhold, Founder & CEO, Fallston Group
Resilience Is Built in Community
Business ownership has always required resilience. Markets shift, industries evolve, and unexpected challenges appear without warning. The entrepreneurs and leaders who endure aren’t simply those with the best strategies; they’re those surrounded by the right people. Community counts. March’s gathering of Rare Intent at The Elk Room in Baltimore was a reminder of how powerful those connections are. Events like this aren’t just about networking; they’re about strengthening a community of professionals who understand the realities of building and sustaining a business. When business owners come together in the right environment, resilience begins to take shape through shared experiences, honest conversations, and a core understanding that no one is navigating the journey alone. As meaningful connections begin to form between peers, conversations naturally shift from introductions to insights. People share what’s working, what isn’t, and what they’ve learned along the way. Even the hard lessons, which are the most valuable. Advice is exchanged. Ideas spark. Relationships deepen. Over time, iron sharpens as leaders continue to grow and face challenges with much greater clarity and confidence. Equally important, these communities help provide perspective. When you’re deeply involved in running a business, it can be difficult to step back and see the bigger picture, personally and professionally. A conversation with another owner, advisor, or peer can introduce new ways of thinking that help clarify the path forward. Often, the most valuable insights don’t come from a formal presentation but from an honest conversation across the table. That’s part of the vision behind Rare Intent. The goal isn’t simply to host another networking event. It’s to build a community of like-minded professionals who gather regularly—people willing to share experiences, offer guidance, and support each other through the realities of business ownership – a trusted circle. When business owners invest in each other, everyone grows stronger. And when a community grows stronger, resilience becomes part of its foundation.
The Mental Health Crisis Taxing Our Nation’s Law Enforcement
Local law enforcement officers across this country are being asked to do more than ever before, and much of it has little to do with traditional crime fighting. I’ve always said that police officers are ordinary people who are constantly thrust into extraordinary situations. Today, roughly one in ten police calls involves someone experiencing a mental health crisis. At the same time, an estimated one in five adults in the United States lives with a mental illness in any given year. These two realities are colliding on the front lines of public safety each day. Police officers have long been the de facto first responders to mental health emergencies. And the system, as it currently stands, is not built to support them, or the people they are trying to help. A Role Law Enforcement Was Never Designed to Fill Officers are trained to do many things – secure crime scenes, enforce laws, neutralize threats, among other things. They are not clinicians or therapists. Yet every day, they respond to calls involving suicidal ideation, severe psychosis, addiction-related crises, and individuals in extreme emotional distress. When a community lacks accessible mental health services, the 911 system becomes the default safety net, and the consequences are measurable. Research from the Treatment Advocacy Center has found that individuals with untreated serious mental illness are up to 16 times more likely to be killed during a police encounter than other civilians. Other national analyses indicate that approximately one in four people fatally shot by police has a serious mental illness. Those statistics do not suggest malice on the part of officers. They reveal a systemic gap, a mismatch between training, resources, and expectations. When someone in crisis behaves unpredictably, fails to follow commands, or appears erratic, a situation can escalate quickly. Without specialized tools and support, even well-intentioned officers can find themselves in high-risk situations. The Toll on Officers We cannot talk about mental health in policing without acknowledging the impact on the officers themselves. Repeated exposure to trauma – suicides, overdoses, violent scenes (murders, rapes, aggravated assaults, armed robberies), and domestic crises – carries a cumulative psychological toll. Studies consistently show elevated stress, sleep disruption, depression, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress among law enforcement professionals. It is real. Yet a persistent culture of silence often surrounds officer wellness. Many officers fear that seeking help may affect their careers or their standing within their departments. In fact, vulnerability is often viewed as a weakness, not officially but among the rank and file. The conflict is that the overwhelming majority of police officers are good-hearted people who want to help others. Then the world gets ahold of them, and they put up walls to protect themselves and others. Over time, they often isolate and internalize. When we send officers into mental health crises without sufficient training or ongoing psychological support, we are compounding the strain. The burden is operational, emotional, and reputational. This is not sustainable, for the individual officer or for the communities they serve. The Training Gap & Opportunity Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) programs, for example, typically provide 40 hours of Specialized training focuses on recognizing signs of mental illness, de-escalation techniques, legal considerations, and partnerships with local treatment providers. Departments that implement these programs report improved officer confidence and stronger collaboration with mental health professionals. But training alone is not enough. Perhaps a layered approach will work: Consistent, evidence-based crisis response training for officers. Embedded mental health co-response teams pairing officers with clinicians. 24/7 crisis stabilization centers to divert individuals from jail. Confidential mental health resources for officers. Clear communication strategies that build community trust when incidents occur. Communities that invest in these systems can see fewer arrests for low-level mental health-related incidents and better long-term outcomes for individuals in crisis. This is not about removing law enforcement from the equation. It is about equipping them appropriately and ensuring they are not the only answer. A Public Safety Imperative Mental health is a public health issue. When it becomes a law enforcement issue solely, everyone is at risk. The reality is this: police officers are often the only responders available at 2 a.m. when someone is suicidal, delusional, or in severe distress. We owe it to them and to the families who call for help to ensure they have the right training, the right partners, and the right support systems. Families desperately want their loved ones to receive help, not sanctions or, tragically, escalation to a deadly encounter. If we continue to rely on law enforcement as the front line of mental health response without structural reform, we will continue to see tragic outcomes, strained community relationships, and burned-out officers. If nothing changes, nothing changes. Our officers deserve better preparation. Our communities deserve better outcomes. And individuals in mental health crisis deserve a response designed for care, not confrontation, albeit sometimes unavoidable. This is not just a policing issue. It is a leadership issue. And it is one we can no longer afford to ignore. Learn more about this topic from an amazing program, https://www.miraclesaves.org.
What the Verizon Outage and Recent Brand Failures Teach Us About Crisis Leadership
Over the past year, a growing list of well-known brands — including Saks Global, Rite Aid, Forever 21, and Marriott — have found themselves in the headlines for bankruptcy filings, operational breakdowns, or reputational backlash. While each situation looks different on the surface, they all point to the same underlying issue: crisis leadership failures that began long before the crisis became public – a dimmer switch versus the flick of a light switch. A timely example came up last week with the Verizon wireless outage, which disrupted calling, texting, and mobile data for customers across large parts of the U.S. Phones were pushed into “SOS” mode, and for hours, millions of people were left without reliable connectivity. While Verizon worked to restore service and later offered account credits, early communication was limited, forcing customers to rely on social media and outage trackers for answers. The outage itself was disruptive — but the leadership response shaped how customers perceived the event. It felt as if many were wondering this this was a technical issue or widespread cyber-attack. This highlights a critical distinction leaders often overlook: the difference between sudden crises and smoldering ones. Research consistently shows that roughly 70–75% of corporate crises are “smoldering” issues — problems leaders were aware of, or should have been aware of, but failed to address quickly enough. These slow-burn issues don’t grab attention at first, which makes them easier to ignore — until they explode into full-scale crises. The Verizon outage may feel sudden to customers, but system vulnerabilities, redundancy planning, and response protocols are all smoldering issues (or opportunities) that require leadership attention long before something breaks. The same pattern appears in recent bankruptcies. Saks Global’s collapse followed years of mounting debt and delayed decisions. Rite Aid’s repeated financial struggles reflect unresolved operational and legal pressures. Forever 21’s decline was driven by leadership waiting too long to adapt to shifting consumer behavior. Across industries, the lesson is clear: crises are rarely caused by a single bad day. They are the result of hesitation, overconfidence, and delayed action. Leaders often move quickly when faced with dramatic, visible emergencies — but move far too slowly when the warning signs are quieter. In Fallston Group’s experience, there are often many reasons for this, including the fact that hard decisions often lead to investor backlash, stock price hits, and layoffs. Not to mention an overreliance on brand longevity and perceived marketplace power. Strong crisis leadership isn’t about perfection. It’s about early recognition, transparent communication, and decisive action. Customers, employees, and stakeholders can tolerate disruption. What they won’t tolerate is silence, confusion, or the sense that leaders failed to act when they had the chance. Again, ‘If you don’t tell your story, someone else will.’ However, our mantra taken one step further, ‘If you don’t take action, someone else will.’ In today’s environment, where a single outage or headline can redefine a brand overnight, crisis leadership is no longer optional — it’s a core responsibility of anyone in charge.
Protecting Customers This Holiday Season: A Call to Proactive Leadership
Embrace the Three P’s – Prevention, Presence & People As the holiday season begins, a time of larger crowds, heightened emotions, and rising expectations, destination leaders have a special responsibility: to make sure every guest feels safe, seen, and appreciated. Safety isn’t just a policy; it’s a commitment. And that commitment starts with leadership. Crisis leadership is not about reacting in chaos; it’s about preparing with purpose. Shopping centers and entertainment destinations should review and rehearse their emergency response plans now. Coordination with law enforcement, fire, and EMS isn’t optional, it’s essential. The more seamless these relationships are before a crisis, the more effective the response will be when seconds count. According to the National Retail Federation, more than 72% of retailers increased security measures during last year’s holiday season, and with good reason. The FBI reports that nearly 17% of active-shooter incidents occur in commercial areas. Working together, destination leadership and customers can collaborate to help ensure the desired levels of emotional and physical safety. Equally important is the power of presence and communication. A visible, professional security posture not only deters threats, it reassures guests. Clear signage, consistent messaging, and confident staff communication create a sense of calm in the midst of crowds. Every team member, from the ownership to general manager to staff, must understand how to identify and report suspicious behavior. Empowered employees are your first line of defense. The old adage is true, ‘If you see something, say something!’ Finally, the people! Lead with empathy. When an incident happens, the words and tone of leadership can either build or break public trust. Speak early, clearly, and compassionately. Demonstrate control but also care. The holiday season should be about connection and community, and those values must extend to how we protect our guests. Preparedness, presence, and people – three simple principles that define strong crisis leadership. When destination leaders embrace these pillars, they not only safeguard people; they preserve confidence, loyalty, and reputation. Remember, reputation leads to trust and trust leads to valuation, and not all currency is financial. At Fallston Group, we help organizations build, strengthen, and defend their reputations—before, during, and after a crisis. Please give us a call if you’d like to discuss this or any other topic further.
Rob Weinhold, CEO of Fallston Group, Shares Insight on FOX Following AWS Global Outage
Watch interview on Fox: https://foxbaltimore.com/fox45-mornings/amazon-web-services-outage-causes-global-disruption-highlights-economic-reliance#
When the Cloud Breaks: Leadership Lessons from the AWS Outage
When the Cloud Breaks: Leadership Lessons from the AWS Outage During the early hours of October 20th, a major outage at Amazon Web Services (AWS) took hundreds of platforms offline and caused chaos for thousands of companies. Global brands like Snapchat, Venmo, Fortnite, Signal, and Ring were severely affected, along with UK institutions such as Lloyds Bank and HM Revenue & Customs. When the cloud goes down, the ripple effect hit with velocity and impact, and no organization is immune. Whether you are a global enterprise or a main street business, when your business continuity is disrupted, it can cost you time, money, customers, and careers. Moments like these separate reactive organizations from resilient ones. That’s why Fallston Group teaches the Resilient Moment Communications Model — a practical framework that guides leaders through the uncertainty of crisis. This model, developed by Dr. George Everly, provides a strategic communications path for leaders of every organizational shape and size. The Model suggests that if a leader answers the following five questions, at any stage of crisis, most questions that people have about an issue will have been answered: What happened? Be factual and transparent. AWS’s disruption apparently stemmed from an internal subsystem failure — not a cyber-attack. Clear early messaging prevents speculation from taking root. What caused it? Explain the root cause in plain language. Jargon confuses; clarity builds confidence. What are the effects? Acknowledge the human and business impact. From customer frustration to investor concern, empathy and accountability sustain trust. What is being done about it? Demonstrate decisive action. Communicate progress and solutions without over-promising. Precision and presence matter. What needs to be done in the future? Show learning and leadership. Strengthen systems, train teams, and rehearse responses before the next test. The AWS outage is a real-time reminder that resiliency is not just technical — it is organizational. As we say at Fallston Group, ‘you don’t spin your way through crisis; you lead your way through.’ Fallston Group helps leaders prepare for, navigate through, and recover from issues of sensitivity, adversity, and crisis — because reputation leads to trust, and trust leads to valuation. For more information, link to www.fallstongroup.com. – Rob Weinhold, Chief Executive of Fallston Group
