My daughter Sarah loves to play soccer. It is her thing. She has played since she was 4 or 5 years old, and while I admit to being somewhat biased, she is pretty good at it. It has been fun watching her progress from playing ‘mob ball’ (where a pack of them chase the ball around the field in an amoeba type grouping) to a growing understanding of how a sports team functions at a higher level. There have been some ‘a-ha’ teaching moments along the way – for both Sarah and myself.
Recently I heard a hockey commentator make a statement that crystallized something for me that I have been struggling to get across to Sarah about her soccer playing. The commentator talked about players “moving quickly but not in a hurry”. There is a fine distinction between the two and it can be hard to pinpoint exactly what that phrase means, but you know it when you see it. In sports, your best players seem to intuitively know when to move quickly and when to pause and save their energy and effort. And when they do move, they make it look almost effortless because it is done with such precision and skill.
To my mind being in a hurry suggests some degree of undisciplined movement, with less than clear focus, or hyper-focusing on one element to the neglect of other important factors. It suggests wasted energy with a ‘hope and see’ kind of feel to it, while moving quickly speaks to me of purpose, diligence, and understanding. This is perhaps another way to describe some of the thinking Jim Collins is trying to get across in his book, Great By Choice. The book is a good read in my opinion, especially in a year like this one. When things are uncertain there is great temptation to ‘do something!’ to remedy the situation. Teams, companies, organizations make moves because they feel they have to. But I am not convinced that this always works – or ever really works. Change for change’s sake is problematic.
Collins’ research suggests that in times of uncertainty and chaos, the best companies remain disciplined and focused on the fundamentals that have made them successful to this point, all the while being able to somehow know when it is time to change – and perhaps change quickly. Trying new things simply because there is a felt rushed need to do so can be dangerous or even disastrous. This is vastly different than seeing an opportunity that lies directly within a company’s strengths and purpose and taking advantage of it.
For Sarah, ‘quickly but not in a hurry’ means moving the ball with speed, diligence, and purpose – always trying to do something positive with the play; not just kicking the ball hoping that something good might come of it. For a company or organization I think ‘quickly but not in a hurry’ could mean something like keeping a watchful eye on the potentially changing landscape of whatever it is they do, understanding that they may need to make a change – and do so with speed, diligence, and purpose – but avoiding the knee jerk reactions that seldom prove beneficial or profitable.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, March 10th, 2015 at 9:52 am and is filed under Comments.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Quickly But Not In A Hurry
Recently I heard a hockey commentator make a statement that crystallized something for me that I have been struggling to get across to Sarah about her soccer playing. The commentator talked about players “moving quickly but not in a hurry”. There is a fine distinction between the two and it can be hard to pinpoint exactly what that phrase means, but you know it when you see it. In sports, your best players seem to intuitively know when to move quickly and when to pause and save their energy and effort. And when they do move, they make it look almost effortless because it is done with such precision and skill.
To my mind being in a hurry suggests some degree of undisciplined movement, with less than clear focus, or hyper-focusing on one element to the neglect of other important factors. It suggests wasted energy with a ‘hope and see’ kind of feel to it, while moving quickly speaks to me of purpose, diligence, and understanding. This is perhaps another way to describe some of the thinking Jim Collins is trying to get across in his book, Great By Choice. The book is a good read in my opinion, especially in a year like this one. When things are uncertain there is great temptation to ‘do something!’ to remedy the situation. Teams, companies, organizations make moves because they feel they have to. But I am not convinced that this always works – or ever really works. Change for change’s sake is problematic.
Collins’ research suggests that in times of uncertainty and chaos, the best companies remain disciplined and focused on the fundamentals that have made them successful to this point, all the while being able to somehow know when it is time to change – and perhaps change quickly. Trying new things simply because there is a felt rushed need to do so can be dangerous or even disastrous. This is vastly different than seeing an opportunity that lies directly within a company’s strengths and purpose and taking advantage of it.
For Sarah, ‘quickly but not in a hurry’ means moving the ball with speed, diligence, and purpose – always trying to do something positive with the play; not just kicking the ball hoping that something good might come of it. For a company or organization I think ‘quickly but not in a hurry’ could mean something like keeping a watchful eye on the potentially changing landscape of whatever it is they do, understanding that they may need to make a change – and do so with speed, diligence, and purpose – but avoiding the knee jerk reactions that seldom prove beneficial or profitable.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 10th, 2015 at 9:52 am and is filed under Comments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.