“What aspect of your work is hardest to copy? How can you amplify it?” - James Clear, weekly newsletter
Anybody can share their vision and beliefs online. Doing so responsibly, consistently, and well is another matter.
1. "Grading our work" is never free from bias. Endowment bias tells us that what is ours (family, ideas, beliefs) has value beyond the opinion of other observers. The same applies for coaching. Asking "am I a good coach" is the wrong question. "How can I be a better coach?"
2. Writers expose ourselves to legitimate criticism of what Salman Rushdie calls our creative and critical imagination. Author Dan Brown (The DaVinci Code, Angels and Demons) says that "the difference between good writers and bad writers is that good writers know when they're bad." As coaches, recognize when we're better or worse.
3. Authors can mislead readers, misrepresenting others' ideas or outright plagiarizing other work. I favor transparency in coaching so that outsiders can see our process and make direct observations.
4. Coaching, playing, and writing share a common theme, all benefit from good editing. Author Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid's Tale) suggests that there is value to letting our work sit and then coming back to it. Coaches have limited practice and teaching time. Revise or eliminate what isn't working.
5. How should we use Artificial Intelligence in our work? Machines often replaced human labor and have the potential to replace cognitive work. Use AI every day.
6. When using AI editing, when do "our work" and "our ideas" no longer become ours? Basketball is open source. Get more edges.
7. Entrepreneur Sara Blakely says, "Obsess the product." Exceeding 4,000 posts written over a decade, there's plenty of obsession going on.
8. Delulu. Nobody sane would produce the product I do. The backstory is the personal benefit of extensive reading and cognitive stimulation of the work.
Writing brings ideas to life.
Lagniappe. We activate our brain different with analog and digital tools. Steal this idea from Austin Kleon in "Steal Like an Artist."
"Try it: If you have the space, set up two workstations, one analog and one digital. For your analog station, keep out anything electronic. Take $10, go to the school supply aisle of your local store, and pick up some paper, pens, and sticky notes."Kon Knueppel on playing on two feet:
— Hoop Herald (@TheHoopHerald) July 4, 2025
“It evens out the athleticism…I’m not super athletic, so being able to play off two feet..now they have to be ready for a shot fake or a pivot. It kind of evens the playing field.”
(Via @JeremyGrandiso1 🎥)
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