“The temptation to lead as a chess master, controlling each move of the organization, must give way to an approach as a gardener, enabling rather than directing. A gardening approach to leadership is anything but passive. The leader acts as an “Eyes-On, Hands-Off” enabler who creates and maintains an ecosystem in which the organization operates.”
― Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex WorldGeneral McChrystal stamped his ethos on the War on Terror in Iraq. Abandon silos. Intelligence organizations underachieve by doing their own thing.
And that applies in sports, too. One team overachieves in our boys basketball league, Watertown. I think they've won three state championships despite a fraction of the enrollment of Lexington and have played Lexington even over the years.
Why? The coach and program director, Steve Harrington, have an integrated program from youth to high school. There's no silo. "Harry's kids" play hard, move the ball, and because they're usually undersized, beat teams from the perimeter and with fullcourt defense.
In our community, it's a checkerboard of silos on the girls side without acrimony between youth and high school programs.
Development issues? I can't say that as we have a girl ranked 12th in the New England graduating class of 2022, a girl ranked 6th in the class of 2024, and an All-League point guard graduating this year. But none of them play for the local high school. It's one thing to develop players and it's another to keep them in the program.
And it's not unique to basketball as hockey and other athletes find willing suitors in the prep/private universe.
How could one eliminate silos?
- Identify silos as a problem.
- Have a program coordinator (could be a coach or not) with a collaboration mission.
- Bring people together with a common goal.
- Identify a curriculum (this is how we teach individual defense, pick-and-roll offense and defense, transition, shooting, etc.)
- Get feedback and revisions ("I need a better understanding of this")
- Involve the community.
- Have periodic (brief) meetings to assess progress and problems.
Drill. Getting your shot off quickly requires optimal setup. Curry demonstrates.
Set play. Elbow get. We often see pick-and-roll with a guard or smaller player attacking off a screen from a big. Big on big screens can create confusion for defenses.
Lagniappe. Study how players get separation. Nash opens his hips which defenders misinterpret as change of direction. Subtle but effective...