“I cannot make you understand. I cannot make anyone understand what is happening inside me. I cannot even explain it to myself.”
― Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis, the Kafka novella offers insights...into basketball? Stop and think.
The protagonist, Gregor Samsa, awakens in his shared apartment as a giant bug, most commonly depicted as a cockroach. How does his metamorphosis affect his relationships with those around him who no longer see him as son or brother?
What if we awoke changed - as our overseer (e.g. Program Director), our assistant, our players, our broader community, or inanimate? How would others see us? How we see our former self - foreign, unrecognizable or sympathetically?
Program Director. She is a stakeholder in our success as minister of her fiefdom. But what carries the most weight - program success or smooth seas, no parent or community backlash against the inevitable injustices (cuts, minutes, and roles)?
Assistants. Am I a valued team member, excess baggage, or something else? Remember that "people don't quit jobs, they quit people." Am I a 'yes man' or part of a culture of collaborative conflict?
Players. How do we collaborate, connect, and communicate with players? Do the key players see us radically differently than reserve players? Are we adding value for everyone? Am I a taskmaster or mentor?
Our absence results in a chance for metamorphosis for others, who might grow or shrink in our absence. Do they raise their game or regress?
Our metamorphosis offers insights into empathy within our program, the capacity to see how others feel. We usually see how a challenge impacts us, not how it impacts those around us. But coaches need to be able to read the room and take the pulse of individuals and team. To me that's a key lesson of Metamorphosis.
Ego tells us that the program needs us. The Metamorphosis asks what happens in our absence. To paraphrase Detective Freamon in The Wire, "Six out of ten people think you're a self-absorbed jerk. On the other hand, the other four just think you're a jerk."
Lagniappe. Separate ways...from Coach Drew Hanlen
Lagniappe 2. Jab step moves are core elements. Consider filming your moves.