Ever been fired, talked to by your boss, or questioned by outside sources because you weren’t “winning enough?”
Here’s why…
Some owners and GMs still don’t understand the art of coaching. They only want to use “data.”
Translation: We don’t know if we’re actually doing a “good job” in the minds of the people that hired us… Because they don’t know either… Because they are measuring the wrong shit.
If you don’t understand the art of coaching, then you’ll resort to metrics of average fans reading the newspaper…
Wins and losses.
So how do coaches, GM’s and owners all get on the same page?
We need to take a lesson from the software space.
No computer science degree required.
GM’s are Black Box Testing
Black Box Testing is a software testing method in which testers evaluate the functionality of the software under test without looking at the internal code structure.
-Source: Black Box and White Box Testing
Black Box Testing= The Results
Replace functionality of “software” with “team” and “internal code” with “day-to-day operations” and you have what GM’s and owners are doing from their vantage point.
They might have remembered your mission, vision, and systems you wanted to put in place from your interview…
If they asked you
If they interviewed you
If they remember
But in most cases, they aren’t in your office again until… Well…
The team isn’t winning.
And then you remember that you have a boss.
You can be:
beloved and respected by your players
successfully teaching a holistic system of human and player development
playing the infinite game to set your organization up for success on a longer timeline
In other words, you can be doing a “good job” and not currently winning games.
But if they don’t see, understand or appreciate this, they’ll revert to caring about winning and losing.
So you get fired before what you are doing pays any sort of dividend.
Sounds awful, how do we avoid that?
With another software testing strategy.
Let’s get you some more runway… With the white box test.
White Box Test Them
White Box Testing is based on the application’s internal code structure. In white-box testing, an internal perspective of the system, as well as programming skills, are used to design test cases.
White Box Testing= The Process
Better-aligned organizations where coaches last long enough to make an impact are white-box testing. It starts at the top.
The rest of the piece will focus on what GMs and Owners can do.
Get Inside the System
The owners and GMs need to get out of the office and into the meeting rooms/practice facility.
You can’t white-box test the process if you’re not around the process.
How? You have to “skip levels” like Hardy and Hinkie.
Skipping levels is the idea that the magic answers come from conversations 2 levels down on the organization chart. Most GMs are talking to their Head Coach every day… 1 level down.
But how many GMs talk to the players? And how often? As we will see in the 2 examples below. The magic comes from skipping levels on this org chart.
Skip Levels like Hardy
When Ryan Hardy was GM of the Chicago Steel, he did something most GMs didn’t do. He spent a lot of time around the players.
He had a mini-golf league set up with the whole team where he would take guys out 4 at a time and play mini-golf after practices.
He was always around the player lounge playing ping-pong, video games, or bubble hockey with players.
Some might say, “wow, unprofessional.”
I say genius.
How did he know players were having a great user experience?
He got to see it every day. He knew the heartbeat rhythm of the team because he was close to the heart of it at all times.
And when they are in a relaxed setting having fun together, the players will be honest about how they are feeling, what goes on at practice, what they like/dislike, etc.
He was essentially taking a page from the TV show, Undercover Boss. Getting useful, inside information that he could use to further improve user experience and the team experience.
Get Player Data like Hinkie
Sam talks on a podcast about how you’re the aggregation of everyone that knows you. There are some data points to throw out but, right in the middle of the bell curve is an accurate representation of you.
Paraphrasing Sam:
In that survey, you’ll hear from my mom about how great and wonderful I am… You should throw that out.
You’ll hear from someone that really hates me and can complain about everything I’ve ever done wrong… You should discredit that person too.
But most others you hear from will give you a very accurate representation of me.
GMs have 25 data points sitting in the locker room. The players.
Want to know if your coach is a great leader and genuine person? Just survey the players. Skip levels.
One kid who thinks he should play more and hates being on this team will give the coach an outlier score… Throw that out.
One kid thinks everything the coach has ever done including the way he ties his skates is amazing… Throw that out too.
What you’re left with is who your coach is to those players. Which is all that matters.
White Box is Harder… Do it Anyways
“Right is right even if no one is doing it; wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it.”
-Saint Augustine
When teams are losing, they feel pressure. Or are supposed to… (I think a lot of it is programming)
The problem is, you can’t “measure” the list from above:
beloved and respected by your players
successfully teaching a holistic system of human and player development
playing the long term game and set your organization up for success on a longer timeline
Trying to create KPIs or “hard data” around the process is not needed. White box testing is testing the process… Don’t measure. Observe.
BK says the best coaches can’t be measured because they are masters of the unmeasurable:
The factors that affect life and performance the most will never truly be measurable.
COURAGE moves people to act despite their doubts.
DISCIPLINE accelerates skill development and results.
ATTITUDE shapes everything it touches.
EMPATHY attracts one person to another.
TRUST bonds people or breaks them apart.
LOVE transforms through its presence or absence.
BELIEF guides everything.
RESILIENCE strengthens people the more they use it.
HOPE endures when all appears lost.
What matters most will never be measured in numbers or in dollars, on scoreboards or on spreadsheets. What matters most exists in our heads and in our hearts.
The Art
The coach’s ability to connect with a player is more art than science. You have to observe it like you would an art piece in a gallery.
It wouldn’t make sense to stand in from of the piece and ask how many paint strokes it took or what exact color palette they worked from…
Just appreciate what’s in front of you. You can’t measure it, but you can see it.
Treat your coaches like an art piece. Observe the craftsmanship and appreciate the art of coaching. You can’t measure the empathy your coach has in a hard conversation with a struggling player, but you can see it.
Be the organization that does the hard thing… And white-box test your coaches.
In part 2 we will discuss what coaches can do on their end to “save themselves”
For now, share this with your boss so he can read between the lines and decide if this was a passive-aggressive message that they need to change or to stay strong with their convictions if they believe this is the way…
Okay, maybe just with your coaching buddies for now…