An unexpected lesson in success
Miscellaneous Musings from the Technical Director

Monday, 26-NOV-2007 by Donald MacPherson - Technical Director

This blog entry finds me returning from the 2007 U.S. Field Hockey National Festival. A fun week, and one that provided a surprising opportunity for me to reflect on the nature of success - by observing stark contrasts.

My daughter and I both play field hockey. Aside from the game itself, we have nothing in common regarding how we interact with the game. I am a goalkeeper, and she a midfielder. I am an old man, she a young lady. My biggest worry is how to insure that I avoid injury, hers is whether her games are fun.

As I watched her play at Festival, I saw a remarkably different situation with her club team as compared to her high school team. They were playing with a different level of skill, certainly, but that did not have anything to do with it. This team did not win their bracket, but they were successful. Why at the conclusion of this tournament did we feel that it was a success, and why did we feel the opposite at the end of her high school season?

I found some answers by watching her club coach. This was a woman who has had great success in the sport, both statistical win-loss success, but also personal success in developing the intangibles of athletics, such as respect for the game. In contrast, her high school coach exhibits neither of these. So what makes one person successful and the other not? Over the course of the week, I found some clarity in the nature of three attributes of success - Expectation, Preparation, Satisfaction. The greatest of these three attributes might be Expectation.

Consider my own situation. I have reached a level of skill that is relatively high - for someone of my age and experience. It is unrealistic for me to believe that I should be able to play the same way that I might have 25 years ago. I still try, but my expectations are cultured by my situation. If I truly expected otherwise, I would be pretty disappointed. So, at this point in my development as a goalkeeper, my victories are small - the occasional shutout, stopping a penalty stroke, a proper clear to the side, remembering to close the gap between my legguards. I prepare to exploit what I still have by training and working hard in games and practice. Satisfaction, for me, is really more about contentment. If I have a good game and do something better than I did last time, I am content. For what purpose, you may ask? Just for the pleasure of doing it right and better than before. (Oh, and if I can make a save on a 20 year old with attitude - even better.) Expectations are realistic, preparation is compatible with these expectations, and I am content. Success.

Her coach for the tournament, I must believe, had a very realistic expectation for the team. This group of club team players had only practiced twice as a team before the tournament, so no one really had any notion that they would be a winning team. Much to everyone's happy surprise, this group of talented individuals actually came within one point of winning their pool. A remarkable accomplishment to say the least. There was no complaining about missed passes or confused plays. This is to be expected from a group that had so little time together. If the expectation was to win the tournament, then they fail, but by configuring an expectation that was germane to the circumstance, the team had success. The preparation was about team play. There were no drills or conditioning, only team play. They were certainly disappointed to come so close to winning it all, but they lost to a very experienced competitor. They were satisfied to exceed their expectations. Expectations are rational, preparation supports these expectations, and everyone is pleased. Success.

The expectations of her high school coach, on the other hand, are a mystery to me. He told the team that they could "run the table" (a phrase that means to win every game). For the best of teams this is difficult. It is completely unreasonable for a team that has barely enough players for a proper team, no development program, and a coach with token field hockey sport training. (He was a football player, and as far as I know has never been coached himself in the game.) And yet, he expects every player to be able to execute the proper skill in the proper circumstance. His team preparation is actually to focus his coaching instruction on a few select players. Every other player is in a role supporting these players. He is satisfied only with a superior outcome, otherwise the supporting players are the target for sarcasm, insults, and derision. He gives no encouragement or positive feedback to any but his "special friends". At no time does he measure success by the satisfaction of the players. Expectations are delusional, preparation is arbitrary, and half of the team is angry, disheartened and depressed. A recipe for abject failure and disappointment.

My daughter, on the other hand, has one expectation that trumps all others - that everyone plays by the rules, and is treated fairly and with respect. Good sportsmanship is everything to her. The outcome is not important, nor particularly the social aspect of the game. She will become an outstanding official some day because of this (in fact, she already is a club-level umpire), but the real world is harsh. People don't play fairly, and when those in positions of authority abuse the position through neglect, omission, deceit, or outright injury, a young player can become totally disillusioned and embittered. Her expectations, while completely rational, are idealistic and can limit her opportunities for success. These expectations drive her preparation. She trains outside of school to develop her skills, but she does not exploit them with her high school team. She is playing "not to fail", not to be insulted. She was often satisfied by her performance in individual games, but took no pleasure from the team or the season. Some might conclude that her expectations were naive. Certainly her preparation was for a different set of circumstances. She was satisfied only to be done with it all. Sad, eh?

I was not sure where this was leading when I started, but perhaps I can sum up my new philosophy of success with a few words.

1. Keep your expectations reasonable. Consider that others may not have the same expectations.

2. Prepare for the expected outcome. Use your time wisely and efficiently.

3. Be content. Take pleasure in the victories you can control. Ignore those that you cannot.

So what does any of this have to do with engineering or software development? We'll talk about that in the next article...
 

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