The Case for Inverting your Values/Behaviors
Here's a true story about a failed attempt at culture from personal experience as a head coach.
Once Upon a Time…
Coach makes a culture playbook that the staff feels great about.
Coach has 4 behaviors that if players police as non-negotiable, the team culture is at least at a functional minimum with the potential of being great.
Coach stresses the importance of just remembering and doing 4 simple things.
Coach uses a simple acronym for increased processing fluency and retention.
Coach thinks this is easy and that players should be able to do it.
Coach talks about the behaviors and tests players via the Socratic method to just simply recite what the acronym stands for. He can't even get to what the behaviors mean or look like because the players can’t remember the values, let alone execute.
Coach is frustrated and in for a very long year.
That coach was me and I thought a lot about how to make things as simple as I could to avoid having a terrible culture.
Then after reading a few well-written articles and digging into them, I realized I could make it even more simple.
What I Learned
Invert the 4 behaviors to avoid the worst possible outcomes.
Behavior/Value- “Put the Team First”
What does put the team first mean to you?
Then ask your friend, then ask your teammate, then ask another coach.
Even if you try to define it, there leaves too much room for interpretation.
But what if instead of Put the Team First, we inverted it.
Don't act in a way that hurts yourself or the team.
Yes, or no is what I'm about to do going to hurt the team?
Yes, it is... don't do it.
No, it won't... okay, this action is at very least neutral and will avoid the worst possible outcomes.
The inversion is:
Simpler
Clearer
Leaves no room for interpretation. Yes or no.
Those give your players speed in action. They can choose the disciplined response faster.
Inverted behaviors lead to quicker and more aligned decisions on how to act.
That's what you're trying to create as a coach on and off the playing surface.
If you're having some of the same struggles, maybe try inverting the issues.
Application Questions
What do I for sure not want to see out of my players?
Will this inversion create a functional minimum that at least won't damage culture?
Further Reading
To read more on the 4 Agreements, view this series: