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Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Seeking Wisdom- Highlights Plus Extras Like "Draw 2, See 4"


Peter Bevelin’s “Seeking Wisdom” shares a wealth of great perspective. 

Seek competitive advantage. 

  • Find edges in player development. 
  • Analyze strategy.
  • Improve execution. 

Avoid mistakes. (Avoiding strategic stupidity is easier than using genius.)

  • What mistakes are irrecoverable? 
  • Are the mistakes likely in personnel, strategy, or politics? 

What made “X” great? (Simple is better.)

Master what the best others have figured out. (Study greatness.)

The advice we give others is the advice we need ourselves. 

Mutual aid has survival advantage. 

  • "Look for the helpers." - Mr. Rogers
  • Find a mentor. 
  • Drag teammates into the top 10%.

Reputation matters.

Emotion, fatigue, distraction, and stress trigger errors. (How can we reduce the factors that are likely to break us down?)

Rewards and punishment are powerful influences. 

Reward performance not seniority*

  • Sport is meritocracy.
  • "This is not a union job." - Brian Williams 

Overconfidence leaves us open. “It’s the strong swimmers who drown.”

How can I be wrong? (Do antemortem analysis)

Don’t just look for evidence confirming we’re right (confirmation bias). We can have bias about topics (shot clock), players (Ben Simmons), teams, coaches ("love him or hate him?")

“Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies.”

“Missing information doesn’t draw our attention.” (What "should" be there but isn't?)

“I have often regretted my speech, never my silence.”

“No man was fit to hold public office who wasn’t perfectly willing to leave at any time.”

Be aware of possible unintended consequences. (Adding the player who has talent but proves to be a distraction or worse can destroy a team.)

Lagniappe (something extra). Variation off Flex. 

Lagniappe 2. Basketball principle to teach, "Draw 2, See 4." Draw defensive help and see open teammates. 

Lagniappe 3. “There’s no use running if you’re on the wrong road.” - Warren Buffett


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