How do you know? Know what?
Hold certain truths and values dear. Like what? Excellence, integrity, fairness. "Fairness" to one may not seem fair to another.
On a talented team of twelve players, everyone can't start...by rule. Red Auerbach coached by choosing the five whom he thought played best together, not always the five best players. Red inspired the 'sixth man' role that became synonymous for early-career John Havlicek.
For example, how do we start a possession - freelance, set play, spacing concepts motion (e.g. five-out), pistol offense, and so forth? According to Adam Grant in "Think Again" we PREACH, PROSECUTE, or POLITICIZE arguments.
Preaching... we sell.
Prosecuting...we attack.
Politicize...we seek approval for personal benefit.
Grant argues a fourth approach, the scientific method. Set up an experiment or observe what we're doing and track the results. That's analytics... "do more of what works and less of what doesn't." Do we stubbornly press or play one defense proven empirically less effective for our team?
Ask not "why am I right?" but "where am I wrong?" A bad loss for my daughters in high school from doubling the post irrationally affects my views on this.
The Triangle Offense won double digit NBA championships. Proponents value the concepts (including pinch post on the help side) and detractors praise the talent (Jordan and Kobe).
Many social media basketball groups challenge us to rethink our ideas to find a better way. If I read something "oppositional" to my beliefs, I reevaluate in light of the evidence. Be open to disconfirming evidence.
We're always learning or we're falling behind.
Here are a few Grant quotes:
- “When it comes to our own knowledge and opinions, we often favor feeling right over being right.”
- Changing your mind is a sign of intellectual integrity and a response to evidence.
- “In theory, confidence and competence go hand in hand. In practice, they often diverge.”
- "Actively seek out reasons why you might be wrong. Even a single idea can curb overconfidence. Listening well is more than a matter of talking less. It’s a set of skills in asking and responding. It starts with showing more interest in other people’s interests rather than trying to judge their status or prove our own.”
- Do we preach, prosecute, or politicize arguments about basketball & life?
- Do we have an open mind to disconfirming evidence?
- Where am I wrong?
- Do more of what works.
- Changing your mind informs intellectual integrity (and gets better results)