Coaching and Cooking: What Makes a Great Team Culture Great?

Great teams don't always get along famously. 


Casey Stengel understood that.

In professional and college sports, winning is the bottom line. Great culture and losses spell replacement. 

How teams collaborate reminds me of the role of temperature of butter in dough. Ice-cold butter in dough releases steam and creates layers in puff pastry, pie crust, and biscuits. Melted butter adds flavor and moisture but has little effect on structure. But softened butter inhibits the development of gluten keeping your product "tender." You get what you blend. 

But at lower levels, what solidifies culture? What words and behavior belong?

Communication

Collaboration

Respect 

Fairness

Empathy 

Trust

Communication. Communication means clarity, listening, and feedback. "Readback" studies teach that about 1 in 8 messages are misunderstood. Coach Knight would take a timeout in practice, explain a play, and hand out pencil and paper to see if players heard and understood. "Trust but verify." We've all seen championships lost through miscommunication about assignments.

Collaboration. Being on a team isn't equal to working for the team. It's the old "name on the front of the jersey or on the back." Collaboration means sacrifice and suppression of ego. "Never criticize a teammate." 

Respect. "The best way to get respect is to give it." Respect each other's commitment.  Respect the game, the officials, and opponents. In our second game of the playoffs this season, we were outclassed and outplayed. In my opinion, pressing our reserves with starters, up fifteen points in the final two minutes disrespected the game.

Fairness. Fairness means opportunity. It doesn't mean everyone gets equal minutes. The player who shows up (often alone) all summer and works to become her best earns more minutes and got more touches. 

Empathy. Understand the emotions, needs, and perspective of others. "Negotiation" becomes finding deals that work for both sides. Great empathy doesn't seek domination.

Trust. In Leaders Eat Last, Simon Sinek writes, "Trust is like lubrication. It reduces friction and creates conditions much more conducive to performance." Trust flows from character and competence. Players want the truth, but truth isn't abusive. 

What do the participants (coaches, players, families) want from the experience? If we want to know, then we have to ask. 

Is the experience fulfilling any or some of those needs? If it's not, can we do better?  With middle school girls, problems are just around the next corner. 


How can we reduce friction in an organization? Stay on the basics - communication, feedback, positivity. There is no frictionless surface. 

Lagniappe: We know great basketball when we see it...ball and player movement with unselfishness. Via @John_Leonzo 

A hard to guard offense is one in which concepts are blended together and seamlessly flow from one to the next.

Want to learn more about playing this way?

Sign up for the June clinic here: https://t.co/HVdbFnPjII pic.twitter.com/4MbzCmJgvi

— John Leonzo (@John_Leonzo) June 23, 2020

Lagniappe 2: Cooking and coaching combine flavors and structure. As mentioned above, fat adds both as a cooking medium (e.g. frying), component (dough), or garnish (e.g. sauce). Coaches use all purpose players and specialty players; so do chefs. 

Last night I made vegetarian quesadillas (roasted, diced sweet potato, spinach, mushrooms), with olive oil in the saute', a blend of Mexican and Parmesan cheese in the filling, and a garnish of seasoned sour cream (salt, pepper, paprika). Three separate fats flavored. Samin Nosrat's Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat is one of my playbooks. Coaches look for combinations of scorers, passers, and screeners. Cooking is easier.