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Wednesday, May 14, 2025

Basketball - "I'm Right and You're Wrong!"

No rational person starts an argument, "You're an idiot. I'm right and you're wrong." The other person rightly and immediately turns us off.

Adam Grant's Think Again delivers many messages about the value of rethinking. A top takeaway is to keep a rethinking scorecard, tracking change of heart, more accurately changing our minds. 

How can a discussant more likely get another to rethink?

1) Seek common ground. Rather than summarize all areas of disagreement, find agreement. Repeating as a pro sports champion is hard. Why did I lack confidence in the Celtics chances? They played a long season in 2024 and they had three players - Tatum, White, and Holiday - on the Olympic team. Additionally, they accumulated a lot of known injuries (Brown's knee, Porzingis fatigue syndrome, Holiday 'mallet finger' and muscle pull, and Tatum's wrist). Those are just factors that could impact performance. Every team has guys hurt now. 

2) Provide only strong arguments because opponents will attack your weak ones. Disney's Bob Iger approached Steve Jobs about merging with Pixar. Jobs outlined a long list of negatives and only three positives. Iger felt sure a deal was doomed. Jobs countered, the positives, although few are far stronger. Don't give opponents an abundance of weak arguments. Find strong ones. Bringing in a hundred page document adds weight but not gravitas. For example, the Celtics are in cap jail and new ownership won't want to take a financial bloodbath with a season without Tatum. Far more likely that they'll trigger a reset by moving big contracts and try to get into a manageable salary cap position. 

3) Ask more and better questions. Grant found that negotiators fared better when twenty percent of their statements were questions. Regularly return to the "Big Four" from Michael Useem's The Leadership Moment: 

  • What went well? (Where do we agree?)
  • Went went poorly? (Where do we strongly disagree?)
  • How can we do better next time? (Where can we move closer on this?)
  • What are the enduring lessons? (Are some of our disagreements less substantive and just emotional, or even by chance?) Where we grew up, went to school, or our baseball team shouldn't torpedo civil discussion. 
Common themes here are: improving relationships and communication, more 'big picture' focus, and removing distractions and noise. Another is setting aside emotion for more analytic, thoughtful, and rational discussion can benefit both sides. 

Lagniappe. JJ Redick shares his thoughts on a contentious issue, zone in youth ball. 
Lagniappe 2. Coach Hacks shares drills. 
Lagniappe 3. Maximizing points per possession is tough in the playoffs with better teams, better defense, and more physicality. 


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