After losing to the New York Mets in the National League Championship Series, it’s certain Chicago Cubs fans will utter the annual adage, “Wait until next year.”

But this year is different for the Cubs and for once that optimism feels justified.  That’s thanks to some very savvy  moves the Cubs have made through recent history — moves that offer lessons to turnaround specialists in just about any business.

From lovable losers to championship contenders, the Cubs offer a short course in how to transform a business through a systematic approach to positive change.  Cubs President Theo Epstein’s approach featured five proven ways to positive change.  They are:

1.  Admit failure.  The Cubs had been entertaining North Siders of all ages for years and years with a fundamentally weak product. They hadn’t been in a playoff game for years and the team’s draught in World Series appearances is laughably epic. Yet they could stumble along nicely with little fixes here and there, and the bars along Clark Street would be filled as the faithful drowned their tears.

Just as Dominoes did with its pizza brand, the Cubs organization fully understood the policies and practices of the past had created a dysfunction that cursed the club to assured failure, over and over again.

2. Bring in fresh, young faces.  At the center of the youth movement was Theo Epstein himself, who was the youngest general manager ever when he took over the Boston Red Sox at age 28 and turned that perennial also-ran into a World Series winner.  He, too, had a bias toward developing new talent and he set out to build the Cubs as he had built the BoSox, with young players and through the draft.

In business, young faces bring new energy, different experiences and a willingness to try the never-before-done that’s needed to fire up a tired business model.

3. Adopt the latest practices. Theo Epstein effectively changed everything about the Cubs, with new systems and approaches for collecting data, analyzing performance, rating talent and making decisions. His Yale education and his Red Sox experience built a confidence in his systems. That enabled him to do away from the traditional team-building through free-agent bidding and trades.

In business, best practices and breakthroughs found in other companies or markets can make a big difference applied to your company.  Innovation can be a new invention, but it can also be a new application of a tool or a resource that’s creating differentiation or value elsewhere.

4.  Hire a winner to lead the troops.  In Chicago, that’s Joe Madden.  He had a proven track record.  He was named American League manager of the year twice and won the ALPennant in 2014 as manager of the Tampa Bay Rays.  His great baseball mind and motivating demeanor ingratiate him to his young players as through the ups and downs of the long season.

The culture of a winner comes through the managers.  The manager’s track record instill the confidence in the team and the manager’s mentoring ways keep the business on track without overwhelming those asked to perform.

5.  Maintain the brand’s emotional bonds with loyal customers.  The Cubs have a huge base of loyal fans who connect to the charms of the franchise — the old stadium, the ancient ushers and traditional “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the 7th-Inning stretch. The Cubs modernized some of it, but never lost touch with the past their fans cherish. They celebrated Ernie Banks. They revived  Steve Goodman’s classic “Go Cubs Go” song. They kept the traditional uniforms and logo.

As tempting as it was to re-invent everything, the team owners knew better than to discard those things that kept fans loyal through thick and thin. They were fully aware of their brand strengths. They didn’t need to change them, in some symbolic way, but instead focused on fixing what needed fixing, the on-field team performance.

Remember in business, a strong base is essentially a brand’s intrinsic value. It’s to be nurtured and expanded, not abandoned.  If you’re going to abandon it, you might as well create an entirely new business, new platform and new brand.

Go Cubs!