To score, and achieve our desired goals, we must be willing to take a shot and take one often.

 

You miss 100% of the shots you do not take.   – Wayne Gretzky

The 2020 theme of identity continues with my consideration of our willingness to take the risks necessary to achieve what we seek.

In the Kickass Koach podcast episode dropped December 14th, I speak to the hockey reference, likening Gretzky’s quote to the shot in the arm we all look forward to getting.

For the newsletter, I dig more deeply into my hockey reference and admit to being a fan of one of Gretzky’s team mate. Additionally, I speak to football and connect them both to realizing possibilities.

Finally, in this post I expand on the courage needed to take the shot, the connecting between risking and winning AND the importance of the team in evaluating the shot to be taken.

 

What will it take to make the Shot!?

Risk Big to Win Big

Commonly, some teams are criticized for making too many passes looking for the perfect shot. This is exactly what prompted Gretzky’s quote about how we miss every shot we fail to take. He started his professional career on the high flying young team who took so many risks that paid off for them that the rules of the game were changed to, essentially, slow them down. Moreover, when the rules changed back (two-line pass off-side call) it took me a long time to get used to it. But I would argue no one takes that risk like the Oilers of the 1980’s did. Perhaps it is better defended today but I suggest it is just the risk that teams are unwilling to take any more.

To be clear, the Oilers didn’t win their first few seasons even with their exceptional team. Interestingly, the Flyers  and Islanders were able to contain them which prompted a few shifts in the team make-up which I will explore on the role of the team. I seem to recall though the Oilers took risks with their high flying speed those risks didn’t pay off as readily in the playoffs against the Islanders and Flyers. In 1987, it was the Calgary Flames that took advantage. Still in 80’s and in 1990 the Oilers turned their risk- taking into a dynasty. One we haven’t seen since. Of course the Hawks and the Pens came the closest with Lemieux, then Crosby and Toews. I would argue Crosby and Toews played a shooting style with slightly less high flying behind them.

 

Anyone who has been part of a great team at work or in sport, knows that it is not a team of stars. In a recent webinar with NLI I was reminded that their research has shown that work teams who celebrate and reward stars do not perform as well as teams who focus on the culture of teaming.

This is more true for good sports teams as well. While I could look at a few winning hockey and baseball teams of recent success, I will stick to my Oilers. To be clear, I am first and foremost a Hab (Montreal Canadien) fan and they had many cup winning teams that were truly teams but the Oilers stand out because of The Great One.

In 1994 the NHL owners locked out the players in a labour dispute and Gretzky formed a team to take on tour in Europe. He pulled together an very interesting team. I recall he took a lot of heat and some curious questions about his choices. He acknowledged that he had a lot of talent from which to choose but he was seeking those who made a good team not the stars of the game.

One team mate he selected is a little known NHLer with whom he played a couple of seasons in Edmonton and then encouraged McFaul to bring him to LA when his contract was purchased in the summer of 1988. That player was Pat “Buck” Conacher. I had followed Conacher’s career since his Junior days with the Barons, Blades and Billings Big Horns. I loved his style of team play and clearly so did Gretzky. In fact he was asked specifically about Buck and he indicated that their are just some people who know how to be a good team mate and Buck is on of those people.

I concur with The Great One teams are better when they are made up of great team mates. In fact I would argue that the five years when the Oilers won, including the four with Gretz, they won based on their great team play, not their stars.

Yes out scoring your opponent is the way winning is counted but part of taking and making the shots that could comes down to team work. It is the team work that lowers the risk of the riskiest plays.

 

Life is one big Experiment

An experimental, iterative, approach to life is a recognition that truth is found in the act of seeking. Moreover, when we rigorously work to overcome challenges our life experience guides us. As John Dewey says, education is life itself. We learn from reflecting on our experiences. Ultimately, this is an experimental approach.

Healthy belonging allows us to engage more deeply and take more risks. Experimentation is about a desire to learn, grow and make things better.

Continuous learning and fresh insights are the goal of the experimental approach. What will the evidence teach us? Moreover, this approach is generative in addition to being iterative. With an experimental collaborative approach, we may find progress is faster and we go further.  In collaboration we can crack this, but only together with a willingness to learn and honour the data and the stories will we arrive where we seek to go.

We may be capable of more closely monitoring and learning from our choices and decisions and build capacity to adjust our actions to meet the current situation. Then, we may influence how things unfold. There’s a difference between wanting something and making something happen. With the mindset necessary to perform under pressure, we’re able to influence results more deeply. Moreover, this mindset that relies on clarity, curiosity and a resilient spirit we accept no excuses, only meaningful results. Furthermore, it’s essential we learn to evaluate the risk of any action, removing the very human emotions that cloud our judgment.

Walk with me.

Together let’s examine options consciously and authentically to make choices that move us strategically toward where we want to be.  Therefore, where my client wants to go, is my paramount focus. Strategy is a about choices. Execution on these choices requires masterful performance. Furthermore, a well-developed process allows us to enjoy the journey far more fully

 

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Be part of the journey in 2020.

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Life’s Difficulties Overcome by Banking (Y)Our Impact (BYI) 

The Bank Your Impact (BYI) System is about both developing and embedding self-awareness. Furthermore, the benefits of expanded resilience, connections built on understanding the impact of belonging and an ability to bolster a professional and authentic presence are foundational. Perhaps more than the other two, developing a foundational resilience is critical to with standing that which moves us into burnout.