Basketball: Managing Expectations in Basketball and Medicine

We all manage expectations. "We'll see how it goes." This begs the question, "is managing expectations good, bad, or neutral?"

Years ago a cancer specialist approached me months after his patient had died. I had seen his patient in the ICU decades ago with multi-system failure and cancer. I told him, "If the patient does spectacularly well, they could live two weeks." He was shocked. The patient lived three days. He said, "I lost all perspective because they were in my care for so long." I answered, "I didn't have that history to affect judgment." 

Basketball isn't a matter of life and death. Some wags say it's more important than that. But coaches and front offices regularly manage expectations. I love what Dick Williams said before the 1967 Red Sox season, "we'll win more than we lose." They perennial doormats won the AL pennant and lost the World Series in seven games. 

This also reminds me of a 'compliance' lesson from Community Health back in 1978. What keeps patients from taking their medication? I used the mnemonic, BESS - barriers, efficacy, severity, and susceptibility.

• Barriers - cost of medication, possible side effects, health beliefs
• Efficacy - does it work?
• Severity - what's the severity of the issue like high blood pressure?
• Susceptibility - "I'm not at risk. Nobody in my family had cancer." 

Rational and irrational inputs affect our decisions. Which returns us to our role as 'salespeople'. 

Expectations influence performance. "Rosenthal and Jacobsen followed these students over the next couple of years to see how the teachers’ expectations would affect them. Sure enough, they found that the students from whom teachers expected more were more likely to have made larger gains in their academic performance." It's called the self-fulfilling prophecy. Tell the players that we're rebuilding and they'll believe us. 

We can only do as well as we believe. Sara Blakely, Spanx CEO discussed a business adventure trip where each harnessed member had to jump out to a person suspended by a crane. Fall short and you had a long bungee jump. Blakely wasn't the tallest or most athletic but she made the leap. Instead of jumping at the target, she aimed three feet above. Her message? "Aim high."

• Don't settle.
• Set high expectations early.
• Celebrate wins. 

Be SMART. Set SMART goals - specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. Some managers fail because they set unattainable performance levels for employees. "If your high standards are causing others to feel inadequate, eventually they lose confidence and stop trying. They may second guess themselves while privately resenting you and fearing your regular critiques. Worst of all, because they can’t tell where your unfair standards end and where their shortfalls begin, they aren’t able to improve."

How do we measure performance? In the Navy, we received regular "Fitness reports" measured on specific criteria. Performance impacted promotion when you got "in the zone" (based on time) and could lead to 'deep selection' meaning early promotion which translated to pay, status, and leadership expectations. 

Expectations of punctuality, preparedness (knowing your job), and effort are reasonable. I sent parents 'progress reports' periodically sharing areas of growth and of potential improvement. Did that matter? I don't know. 

Bottom line? 

• Higher expectations create higher performance. 
• Set clear performance targets. 
• Expectations without training disfavor subordinates. 
• Success demands we aim high. 

Lagniappe (something extra). BOB. Need a 3? 

Halfcourt DHO entry into PnR