For the first time in 13 years we traveled back to our "home" town for Christmas. Normally, we do the trek for Thanksgiving and spend Christmas at home in South Carolina. We stayed home because the kids were small and being home on Christmas day was one of the most wonderful days of the year. Bright eyes and wonderment at 4:30 am - running to see what was under the tree. Nothing in the world beats that magic.
But time and tide waits for no one and the children are now young adults and Christmas morning now requires me waking them up before noon in order for me to see what Santa brought. Interesting how roles get reversed. In addition, my father-in-law was diagnosed with cancer and the time is short. The time with him far outweighs any inconvenience for the family.
The time back at the old homestead brought with it time with brothers, sisters, brother-in-laws, sister-in-laws, parents and nieces and nephews.
One evening, while having dinner with my wife's father and her two sisters (and family) my wife's brother-in-law talked about his experience coaching his daughter's 5th Grade "select" basketball team. "Select" teams are typically better than your standard recreational team or school team. Both from a player and coaching standpoint.
He said the he wasn't a very good coach. We asked why. He said that he was good at knowing what drills to run and assessing skills for specific positions but what he couldn't do - and he said was critical for success - was to watch the game without following the ball.
Not being a coach - or even that great a sports fan - I wrinkled my brow and said - "huh?"
The Action Away From The Action
He said that a good coach watches other stuff on the floor during the game, not just what is happening around the ball. Coaches are constantly watching other things - who's picking up on plays, who's in what position for when the ball gets to them, who on the opposing team is missing assignments. In other words, all the things that allow the ball to be somewhere where someone can score happens somewhere else on the floor - away from the ball.
I thought about that for a second or two and realized that in almost any team sport - what happens away from the ball (or point of action) is critical to whether you win or lose. A block on the line in football that opens up space for a runner to go to the goal line... A second baseman moving quickly toward second when the ball is hit to the shortstop allowing for the double play.
And it's the same in business. We need to watch were the action isn't in order to be sure to win. Take incentive programs. Typically, programs are focused on where the action is - in the sales organization - at the point of sale. Sell "x" get "y".
But what about the folks that packaged the product in a way that is attractive to the buyer that got the lead that then got the sales person in front of them? What about the customer service agent who satisfies a customer who then in turn tells a friend about their experience which prompts that person to call and get an appointment with a sales person who closes the deal and gets the award?
How many of those things happened away from the "ball." How much of the success was at the point of action? Some of it to be sure but not all of it.
For 2008 let's all be better coaches... let's look at what's going on away from the ball and see if there are areas we can improve, we can motivate or influence to be better, different, successful.
