Lessons from the Extreme (Giving Feedback)

“Don’t worry that I’m yelling at you, worry when I stop” ~bobby knight

Bobby Knight known as “The General” was considered one of the greatest basketball coaches in the history of college basketball coaching the Indiana Hoosiers to 3 National Championships and 11 Big Ten Championships.?He was recognized as National Coach of the Year 4 times and Big Ten Coach of the Year 8 times. ?Even coached the USA Olympic team to a Gold medal in the 1984 Olympics.?“The General” brought the best out of his teams with extreme discipline and hard work.?Many considered him a genius.?Legend AND Legendary.

Bobby Knight was a Tyrant.?Having coached at Army, he developed a militant style of coaching.?Verbally abusing players, consistently asserting punishment for making mistakes.?In the 80’s and early 90’s this was the optimal style of leadership.?Making his teams’ “tough” by forcing them to endure extreme pressure and abuse.?Expose your weakness, embarrass you in front of your teammates, use your shame to fuel the work ethic needed to fix your flaws.?The goal is perfection at all cost- no exceptions.?Old school.

The Pendulum…

With most extremes, eventually, the pendulum swings equally in the opposite direction.?The other side of Bobby Knight is the “Everyone gets a trophy” mindset considered “weak” and complacent. ??Many say the next generation is soft (Our parents said the same about us).?Coddled by parents, ignoring bad behavior, profiting from victimhood, and rewarding participation over results.?Parent, Cheerleader.?If Bobby Knight used a stick, this was a carrot… a soft fluffy stuffed animal type of carrot.

Feedback is a Gift

I’m not here to provide parental advice.?I do, however, want to draw attention to the difficulty corporations and leaders have with providing feedback to this next generation.?Fear of being accused of bias, losing employees or defensiveness in the form of “blame fixing” or “plausible deniability” becomes unnerving.?Feedback, at least finding areas that need to be fixed, and ensuring they get fixed is one of the most important aspects of leadership.?Sometimes fixing these problems can be the difference between keeping your job or being fired.

Getting to problems fast so we can solve them faster

I’ve been driving this idea with clients and teammates for some time now.??Solving problems is a critical tool in every executive’s toolbox.???

Question: Why is it so hard to uncover problems??

Answer: Culture.

Cultures that punish mistakes, yells at missteps and focuses on people more than facts, build closed minded, "everyone out for themselves", “that’s your problem not mine”, culture that makes it hard to uncover the problems vital for survival.

Organizations that can assess problems faster, often solve them faster and gain a competitive advantage.??Feedback, or the way problems are solved and uncovered, should not need to be delivered by a “Bobby Knight” type or hurt someone’s feelings, rather it should be considered the critical data available to maximize sales and performance.?

SOPHOP (Soft on People, Hard on Points)

I can feel the eyes rolling in your head with this acronym.?“Feels” a lot like the “everyone gets a trophy” situation we have today, doesn’t it??Maybe.?My view is this idea represents balance.?The pendulum slowing down between extremes stopping in the middle.?On one side, we need to be real, direct, and critical of the areas that are creating the problem.?We can’t avoid these things. We need to be candid and fact based when describing the situation we are addressing.??However, we also need to make sure that we focus on the problems, not the person.?The ”Person” is usually in the best position to uncover and solve problems in the first place.?When we make the “Person” the “problem”, we will get someone that is defensive, closed and likely not cooperative.?

We are in a new world with new rules and the political pendulum is swinging pretty fast right now.??One thing is certain, problems will always exist to be solved.?When you solve these problems as a team, you make working more fun and winning inevitable.

~Mike Sweeney