Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Basketball and Life, Epiphany: Simplify in Threes

I say it regularly, sport is a microcosm of life. Sometimes the answer appears. Take a step back and see it.

Imagine our current 'ecosystem' isn't working. Whether we call it culture or leadership void or whatever, the problem is the same. 

  • Jack Jones, Mac Jones and the Patriots. It's not working; reset.
  • James Harden and the Sixers...great player who can't always make a team better. Move on. 
  • Policy, at any level, flows from a combination of economics (money), religion (including both cultures and actual war), and politics. Much of the time, positions are so entrenched that 'deciders' marry the status quo. 
Sometimes it helps to think in 3s. Three's have power as in rhetorical tricolon:

- Friends, Romans, Countrymen
- Truth, justice, and the American way
- I came, I saw, I conquered.
- Chamberlain, West, Baylor
- Executive, legislative, and judicial branches

Study the 'Discipline of execution'
  1.  People  "This is who we are." 
  2.  Strategy "This is what we do." 
  3.  Operations "This is how we do it."
What's our overarching philosophy?
  1. Teamwork
  2. Improvement 
  3. Accountability
How do we structure game play? 
  1. Offense 
  2. Defense
  3. Conversion between O to D and D to O
What's your offensive organization?
  1. Spacing
  2. Player and ball movement (creating advantage)
  3. The scoring moment (executing advantage)
What are your offensive and defensive symmetrical keys?
  1. Take quality shots ("Take more and better shots than your opponent." - Pete Newell)
  2. Take care of the basketball (Force opponents to turn over the ball).
  3. Get easy baskets (Allow no easy baskets.)
What does each of us control? 
  1. Attitude
  2. Choices
  3. Effort 
Lagniappe. Learn from mistakes. 

Post by @raydalio
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Lagniappe 2. Beautiful action. 

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