Half Chocolate

When you’ve melted the chocolate in the double boiler and you go to dip the pretzel rod, you want to keep your hand clean…so you only dip half the pretzel and then let it cool.

But now you force your guests to make a difficult decision…do they want to eat something they’re only going to eat half of? And what do they do with the other half?

You’re giving them exactly what they want but then you’ve included a version that they’re not really interested in. On the one hand, having an un-chocolated side might increase their love for the chocolated side…but on the other hand you should know that your guests just want chocolate on the whole thing.

It’s easier to give the people half of exactly what they want.

To go all the way you’re going to have to get your hands dirty and commit to a process that most don’t. But the guests will be fully thrilled…not just half way thrilled.

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The Glue Guy

There’s one in every band, every team and every group that stays together more than ten minutes.

And the glue guy (along with everyone else) rarely understands the importance of the role and minimizes its value. The glue guy wishes he was the talented one, the good looking one, the visionary, the mysterious one, the assertive one…

But when the glue goes away the whole thing falls apart and everyone wonders why. We had the talent, we had the vision, we had the good looks, why isn’t it working?!

The glue holds people together…and connectedness (more than talent) has a special magnetism and power that can’t be faked.

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Underdog

Being the underdog is a strong source of energy. And you might be able to use it for a long time as your main source of motivation.

But if all goes according to plan, it’s ultimately unreliable. If the energy of the underdog is what’s giving you the juice to win then what do you do when you’re fully expected to win?

If you’re using a temporary source of motivation, keep going with it as long as it’s giving you what you need.

And then be prepared to find something more sustainable.

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Bench Players

They don’t get playing time. The don’t usually even take their warm ups off. No one knows who they are. You see them jump up on the bench when the star players do something good. As a viewer, their enthusiasm can even seem silly…it’s not like they’re contributing to the success.

Or are they?

Great teams get sharpened by playing other great teams…but in reality great teams are only as good as the competition they play against ever single day…ie. The bench players.

We might not care a lot about the bench players, but the star players do. And they know how great the bench players are.

Every great bench player knows they could go play for a different team and probably get more playing time. But they’d rather be an intregal part of a better team.

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One and One

Lots of close games during March Madness. Lots of these games come down to free throw shooting.

For those who don’t know the game well…there comes a time in a game where if you get fouled you get to shoot a free throw. If you make that one you get a chance at another one.

But if you miss the first one the game just moves on.

This is called a 1 and 1. If you make the first you get the second one.

It’s a bad time to be a second free throw specialist. If you’re not very good at the first one but always nail the second it’s unlikely we’re going to get to see your specialty. You’re not usually going to make it to the second shot and because of that it’s much less likely you’ll even be in the game during clutch free throw time.

When you choose what to specialize in it’s a good idea to put yourself in places where that thing is needed and valued.

»» Yes, the truth is no basketball player walks around bragging about specializing in the second free throw. No one misses the first and says, ‘Hey lay off, my specialty is the second one’.

BUT there are lots of players who are much better at the second free throw than the first.

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Ladysmith

When I was on the basketball team in high school a bunch of us went to a summer basketball camp called Ladysmith in Wisconsin. The assistant coach on our team had been taking players there every few years…and the rumor was it was the best basketball camp.

We didn’t hear why, simply that it was.

Two hour morning session. Three hour afternoon session. Two hour evening session. For three days.

And it wasn’t one big pep talk or feel good inspirational story time. It was going hard. Always doing something with the basketball, always running, always focusing. Playing against taller players, shorter players, players better than you and not quite as good as you. Hours and hours of hard competition.

After ever session we were drained. And at the end of each day we were sure it was impossible to do it all again.

On top of that…Our coach made sure all of us were on the fifth floor of the dorms (the top floor)…no elevators. Nothing like five flights of stairs with jelly legs.

But we all made it out alive. Barely.

We didn’t leave the camp with a bunch of new drills that were going to turn us into Michael Jordan over the summer. And I don’t think the point of the camp was to make us adopt a seven hour per day workout schedule.

It was to show us that we could go harder than we ever thought we could. It was to show us how to push. To show us what it means and what it feels like to work. To max out our focus and our muscles. It was to show us what a two hour practice could look like back home. The coaches pushed our bodies but they knew they were actually stretching our minds much more.

We never would have signed up for it if we knew what it was. But as it turns out…it was the best.

»» Coach Coughlin, thanks for tricking us into that camp. You’re a good coach- Mr. Defense

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