“Why did you STOP practicing with your team,” my maniacal client asked my more normal one. We both waited for the response. “Well,” he began slowly, “the practices had become routine and repetitive and the head of the system was tiring of the naval gazing.” He continued to talk but I wasn’t listening. My mind had already heard the melody line that I’ve heard before and seen throughout my 30 years in the world of work.
Why are there so few exceptional teams in the business world? The reasons are numerous. The excuses moreso. The obstacles appear quarterly, monthly, weekly, and often daily. The root, however, remains the same. The Overarching Vision isn’t big enough, clear enough, and inspiring enough to engage the leader and the team in the endless hours of “deliberate practice” that are required.
Dream and do.
Most leaders and most teams want to get better, they have something they’re shooting for, and they’re certainly busy doing shit. The problem is when they find themselves doing the same kinda shit over and over and over again. The routine and the endless repetitions lead most individuals, teams, and leaders into boredom well before they begin to taste mastery. Dream and do only works when the dream is big and the doing is driven by Y.O.U.!
It must be driving a guy like Tom Brady absolutely nuts to still have to show up every day for practice, lace ’em up, and throw the same boring, routine, and repetitive 5 yard out pattern to whats his name. Come on, man. What quarterback couldn’t make that throw in his sleep after 10,000 hours of deliberate practice and then 10,000 more…
The reason you are where you are is mostly due to your discipline around “dream and do.” Business teams do not become ONE, distinct and deeply connected, without the routine, repetitive, and deliberate practice that takes time, time, and more time. Every normal CEO and leader wants better results from their team, few give them the gift of practice. Fewer still keep giving the gift when it starts to feel like work, when it’s not taking as FAST as they would like, or when their boss starts questioning the return on their investment of time.
It must drive a guy like Belicheck absolutely nuts to have a guy like Kraft questioning his practices, and to answer endless routine and repetitive questions from the media. And, all the while to be forced into wearing that crazy sweatsuit, monkeysuit, outfit to every game, practice, and night out on the town.
Mastery requires deliberate practice. Deliberate practice requires routine and repetition. The greatest teams get tired together practicing. During these tiring moments of one more 5 yard out pattern, they taste the magic. They begin to read each others moves with something that can’t be described with words. They know what each will do and anticipate accordingly. And, when the pressure increases their anxiety does the opposite. You can build this in yourself and in your world of work. It takes time, money, and will hurt like a banchee.
Or you can just watch the Super Bowl and dream on…
BUILT TO LEAD 