Details

"If you go on the Internet, there are 20 recipes for pound cake. I go with the one that even describes to a quarter on an inch the size of the pan. Because is someone is describing that level of detail, you know they have gone through it." - Andrew Zimmern in Tim Ferriss' Tools of Titans

Successful programs have successful processes. They focus on details of people, strategies, and execution to promote ethical competitive advantage. In Crystal Magnates, we learn how Coach Nick Saban added karate and pilates to players' workout programs to improve leverage and flexibility. Nothing prevents other programs from adopting those regimens. 

Warren Buffett has an enviable track record in identifying value for his investors. Buffett studies companies, determines what he thinks is their worth, and looks to buy at a discount. He reads annual reports as his advantage. He says, "Some guys read Playboy. I read annual reports." 

What is the difference between ethical and unethical competitive advantage? A baseball team that cuts the infield grass longer or waters down the basepaths changes conditions, but those changes apply to both teams. Urban Meyer's cultivating fraternities and students to cheer loudly and potentially disrupt other teams doesn't change the on-field playing conditions artificially. Using performance-enhancing drugs, piping in sound, or manipulating officials are all examples of unethical competitive advantage. 

New ideas and detail abound. We can all access high quality educational video on the Internet. Some of us have a coaching mentor. I think we have unlimited access to mentors through reading and study. Dean Smith's Basketball: Multiple Offense and Defense is a gold mine. Videos from international coaches Etorre Messina, Arik Shivek, Kirby Schepp, Mike McKay and others are invaluable for those willing to invest in themselves. 

When is a detail meaningful? Dean Smith's advocacy for having three timeouts for the final four minutes is a gem, provided they are used wisely. Teaching proper technique only becomes meaningful when players listen and transfer the instruction. Having all the plays in the world is meaningless without players capable of execution. Knowing that attacking the dribbler's pivot foot on the dead dribble matters not when players don't press that advantage. 


Details often demand TIME and SPACE. Passes have to be ON TIME and ON TARGET. Here's a play that we struggle to run correctly. 

The 2 has to wait for the 5 to uncover. 

Conversely, sometimes players play. 

Yesterday, we ran this out of an ATO looking for a sandwich screen and the players turned it into screen-the-screener for a layup. The time we spend teaching 'how to play' turned into a layup. 

Details matter when they facilitate execution.