How to Use UAE to Drip Culture... Not Drop it
Picture 2 scenarios…
You're hooked up to an IV due to dehydration. The IV doesn't just rapidly inject the fluid, salt, and other components of the solution into your body. It drips it slowly, over time until there has been significant improvement in your condition.
Now imagine that you are a first-year high school Spanish class on day 1. The teacher says tomorrow we are going on a Spanish immersion trip so pack your bags for Spain.
There has been no teaching, no tests and you're unaware of the culture and social norms in that country.
Some of you are already anxious for your imaginary self.
I've been split testing this idea of dripping culture vs. dropping the team into it.
Dropping Culture
In the last 2 years, I have dropped culture onto my team. On day 1 we talked about everything from:
Vision
Mission
Values
Non-Negotiables
I thought I was coming from a good place because this wasn't top-down(this is how we are doing it.)
I had some ideas and wanted to have an open discussion with the team.
But with too many rabbits to chase... We didn't catch any.
The Moment
During the early March lockdown, I was on Zoom calls with a large group of coaches put on by Cody Royle and Fergus Connolly.
Cody dove in one meeting on user experience and it slapped me right in the face.
What does this experience feel like for my players?
Is this overwhelming?
Information overload?
I'd dropped them all off in Spain without teaching them the language and culture of the country over the 7-month season.
Dripping Culture
The other half of my split test is underway right now with the pre-season high school team I'm working with.
I observed where they currently were at.
I picked out 2 weaknesses: one on the behavior side and one on the technical-tactical side.
We defined unacceptable, acceptable, and elite for the behavior and the skill.
And we've worked on those 2 things with great intent and purpose for 2 weeks now.
I'm hoping to drip a little bit more this week and layer in one more behavior and skill to focus on, but this time I'm more observant of when they need a little bit more.
The fact that the season is 6 weeks long has actually been an amazing constraint.
You would think, how am I going to teach them everything they need in 6 weeks?
You're not...
And that's what's helped me the most.
Think About…
Are you dripping or dropping?
Are you keeping it simple or overwhelming?
Are you chasing too many rabbits?
Focus on your user-experience
A recent podcast with Cody Royle and T.J. Manastersky gives some really good user experience examples.
Check out that episode here: TJ and Cody on My Coaching Project Podcast