Adjustments

“It’s the most agile that run closest to the front

on the most challenging obstacle course.”

Craftmaster 

LIFE is one of the most challenging obstacle courses we will ever face – whether we have the inclination to make something magnificent of it or not.  And the instructions aren’t highly detailed, but are mostly a Figure-It-Out-For-Yourself proposition.   

Many life lessons can be learned proactively and prospectively by creating artificial obstacles (aka, sports) and observing what it takes to overcome them.   

All other things being equal, the person or team that makes the most effective adjustments throughout a contest generally wins.  It was said that Tubby Smith “peeled paint” in the locker room with his exhortations of the UK basketball team at halftime to induce an appropriate “attitude adjustment” in his players … and it generally worked wonders!   

But, beyond attitude, one has to analyze strengths and weaknesses of the competition (obstacles and opportunities), as well as who’s actually on the floor, team chemistry, execution of the fundamentals, etc., and adjust to the “realities of the moment” to get the best result for the effort.  Not just at half-time, but moment-to-moment, in the thick of the competition.  Experimentation with play-by-play micro-adjustments is often much more effective than bold and brash sea-change adjustments, although “clearing the bench” with across-the-board substitutions can help a team break out of a languishing slump.  

On the way to the national title in 1998, UK was down 10 points at halftime but ended up winning by 9 points over Utah!   

Some coaches decry either the necessity or benefit of “adjustments” and adamantly refuse to waiver from their ascribed “Game Plan” … even when the chips are substantially down, the tide is running out, and the current is flowing alarmingly against them.  Sometimes this works.  If the “Game Plan” is to get the ball into the highest scorer’s hands and that scorer misses 100% of his shots early in the going, the coach, who has an abiding faith in short odds and real talent, will bank his bets that the star player will eventually come through.  Sometimes it happens and sometimes not.  Everybody has a “cold night” once in a while.   

However, if something’s not working, flags should go up at least some measurable distance beyond half-mast.     

Certified “Life Coaches”, like “Game Plan” sports coaches, exhort us to develop our Game Plan and stick with it.  This may be the best overall strategy for many and the only hope for some.  But a “Game Plan” is only a starting point and general guide.  Contingencies, exigencies, hidden opportunities, potential synergies, and vicissitudes abound!  It’s also impossible to predict how long something is going to take, how many road blocks you’ll encounter, and how long your energy, focus and concentration are going to hold out.  To ignore such at all cost presents a grave liability!  We need to be agile and prepared for both major and minor adjustments to navigate through rapidly shifting sands.  This may require a much greater investment than just making a “Game Plan” and blindly sticking with it.    

For those who need more structure, consider this “Adjustable Game Plan”:

1.    Get the boulders on the docket early.  It’s a tall order, but get the biggest one on the workbench and start hammering away until you run out of either ammunition, time or latitude for further investment; call in help where needed – before help gets overwhelmingly engaged otherwise;

2.    Be aware the clock is running.  Take stock.  What’s changed since the “Game Plan” was launched?  NOTE: Lead time, development time, incubation and germination are important.  Get critical seeds in the ground early.  And learn to count time backwards in looking after the “perishables” – stuff that has the shortest time frame for full execution or that needs the longest lead time has got to be in the oven – even if it’s on “slow-bake”, not just on the radar.  DO AT LEAST ONE TANGIBLE THING FOR EACH “PERISHABLE” to keep the heat on.   

3.    Take stock.  What’s changed?  Etc.  Adjust. 

4.    Get back to the boulders.  Tend the “perishables”.

5.    Take stock.  What’s changed? Etc.  Adjust.

One of my most productive bosses practiced what I called “Revolving Door Channeling”.  He would tackle the biggest and most “perishable” items on his radar / in the oven until they advanced to the next benchmark milestone, take stock, adjust, and move on to the first next most pressing / most important element – hitting as many as 20-30 singles, doubles and triples in a single day … with more than an occasional home run!  Some days, of course, the boulders won, but not until after he had tackled them from 20-30 different angles – adjusting, adjusting, adjusting.   

The key to any Game Plan is eliminating “down time” …

1.    Transition time between productive engagements in different elements of the Game Plan; [ NOTE: it helps to plant strategically placed “meat hooks” in the workings where possible (i.e., “trigger thoughts”, words or phrases) to provide “handles” for picking things up in future encounters.]   A prioritized LIST can be your best accomplice here.  Such a list with already initiated projects can be your best friend. 

2.    Writer’s block / Thinker’s Block / Doer’s Block ... those nagging moments of unaccountable blank space within projects where momentum comes to a grinding halt. 

Here’s where environmental adjustments can be extremely helpful.  Turn the kaleidoscope.  Change the scenery.  Move outside your cubicle.  Go to the library.  Get some exercise – it’s one of the most regenerative things one can do … take a walk around the building … do some squats … go up and down 3 flights of stairs … ANYTHING to get the circulation going and reorient the synapses.  Whatever you do, don’t simply curl up in your comfort zone and “chill out” with your favorite comfort food!   [I used to walk up 4 flights of stairs 3-6 times a day to clear the cobwebs; before I got one flight down on the return trip, I had usually cracked my “block” and couldn’t wait to get back to the office!]  When all else fails, put a “meat hook” in it for later pick-up and move on to something else.  (That’s the virtue of starting early!) 

In sum, be agile, take constant stock, adjust, perfect the art of “transitioning”, and be brutally intolerant of downtime/deadtime; if something’s not moving, move YOU!  You can’t wear a mountain down sitting on your backside or standing with your back-against-the-wall stewing about it.  Be an agile, adjustable “Change Agent” and go git ‘er DONE!   Quartermaster