Pivot to Progress

Have you ever tried something that didn’t work out according to your original plan? (It seems like I’m often resorting to plan B, C or Z.) In spite of our best efforts to prepare for any eventuality, it’s only down the road a way that we begin to see the pitfalls and obstacles. Vision is very important as we work our way towards a goal, but in my experience, the path to successful achievement is rarely brightly lit, with clearly marked signs pointing our way forward, on a pristinely paved road ahead. Sometimes we will find it necessary to hew a new way to our goal. When the pathway forward is blocked, we learn to pivot. In many cases, we can even involve a friend who has a better, clearer path in front of him — and enlist him in our mission to move forward. Two can certainly be more powerful than one, if they can learn to work together towards a common goal.

My friend and business partner, Metta World Peace, said it this way : “In basketball, we pivot to get a better look at a pass to a teammate or a clearer shot at the hoop. You don’t pivot on defense, where you’re working to stop someone else from scoring. You just move your feet to stay in front of them. You’re the obstacle! (That may be why I like defense so much.) But once you’ve got the ball, you dribble, pivot and pass to progress up the court, and you often pivot before you shoot to score. You’ve got to find your way around any obstacles your opponent might present. Without the pivot, progress and scoring would be much more difficult. It’s the same with our goals. If something is in our way, we pivot to get a better look at how to progress forward. Few plans are perfect right out of the gate. We learn as we go and adjust as circumstances present themselves. And even if it’s left-to-right, side-to-side for a while, as long as we keep looking for the better angle FORWARD, we will eventually get a shot at our goal. It’s what happens when we miss that defines us. If we quit trying we will never know the joy of making the shot when it counts”

It’s true. There is usually a great distance between where we are now and our shot at achieving our goals. Sometimes, we make really good progress at first, only to find an obstacle that just keeps moving in front of our original path. If we are to advance when this inevitably happens to us — we must learn to PIVOT. We must adapt. Enlist a friend. Learn together. But don’t ever quit. If we quit, we will never know what could have been, had we tried even just one more time. Change up the formula, take a deep breath, turn up the intensity — but keep the mission going forward. There are so many valuable lessons to be learned, and strength to be gained, from trying and re-trying something that doesn’t quite work out the first 1,799+ times. Keep going!

It is my belief that pivoting develops creativity and resilience. It helps us to find within ourselves reserves of strength and courage that are only unveiled through persistence and perseverance — and all of this practice, derived from failure to progress along the original path — leads to skill. At some point, if we do not quit, and if we continue to pivot and adapt in order to move forward, we may actually find that we’ve become an expert on achieving success in that particular thing. We’ve paid our dues, and we’ve EARNED success. Victory is sweetest to those who have known defeat. 

In the words of Thomas Babington Macaulay: “The world generally gives its admiration, not to the man who does what nobody else even attempts to do, but to the man who does best what multitudes do well.” This level of excellence is born of adversity. 

I use this quote in honor of the late NBA Champion, and successful achiever in multiple pursuits outside of basketball, Kobe Bryant. He was a master of the pivot (even in air)! He was a brilliant genius at finding his way forward to the goal — and not just in basketball. In spite of the many obstacles that confronted him along his meandering path forward, in both basketball and in his own personal life — HE changed things up as necessary, IN THE MOMENT — as the master of his fate and the captain of his soul —and he didn’t quit. He found new ways to make progress, learning and adapting to the obstacles that moved themselves into his way. Sometimes, he was stopped. He was met with failure and disappointment. But he tried again and created clearer paths to reach his goals and produce success. He was, and continues to be, an amazing example of determination, resilience and the skill that is gained through adversity.

Our team at Riingo has tried for a few years to create a mobile phone rate plan that is beneficial for everyone, especially kids and families. We tried to create a crowd-funding company to help fund our progress. Along the way, we’ve met with many obstacles, delays, name changes, and yes — failure — BUT WE HAVEN’T QUIT! We’ve reformulated. We’ve enlisted new friends to join us on our journey and mission to make this world a better place. We have recognized that, in our case, we can’t do it alone.

One of my all-time favorite basketball moments comes from the last minute and ten-seconds of game 7 in the 2010 NBA Championship battle between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics. It’s when Kobe Bryant is double-teamed, pivots, sees another way forward, and makes a high-jumping pass to his friend and teammate, Ron Artest, (now known as Metta World Peace) — who is open on the three point line. Artest hesitates for just a split second, but recognizes that he is open enough to fire off an accurate shot. He jab-steps to create a little distance from his defender, and then relies upon his years of practice to guide the shot. As the announcer says in the video link above: “Artest — that’s a 3… BANG!!! Lakers by 6 with a minute to play!”

As the announcers continue their commentary after the clutch 3 pointer by Artest, they talk about the trust Kobe Bryant had in his teammate, as he takes the double-team and gets the ball to Artest, who does the rest. Kobe saw his way hedged up. He pivoted. This new viewpoint let him see another way forward. He passed. And his teammate, who was in a better position to score — DID score. Ron Artest, now known as Metta World Peace, put himself in a position, (after many failures and setbacks along his meandering path through life), to take a shot at his dream, come what may. You can bet that if his shot had missed, Artest, the former DPOY would have been right back on defense, doing his part for his team to get another shot at the goal and at winning the championship. But his shot DID go in. It went in because he took it, with courage, after all the experience gained through many trials and failures honed his abilities, and turned him into an NBA Champion. The Lakers would go on to win the 2010 NBA Championship Finals 4-3 against the Boston Celtics, with a score of 83-79 in game 7.

What if Metta World Peace had quit back when things became so difficult, when it seemed like he was always being vilified and never given the benefit of the doubt? It would have been easy and even expected. But, in his own words, from his quote above, “If we quit trying we will never know the joy of making the shot when it counts.”

Failure and disappointment can cause us all to pause, and even consider throwing in the towel. But failure is just a teacher along the pathway forward, NOT a final destination where we die the dishonorable death of a quitter. Progress is still calling to us, urging us forward. Success can be ours, if we have the courage to pivot, improve our vision, enlist friends and teammates, trust one another, and move together towards the goal. And when we get the chance to take our shot to achieve our dreams, those failures will have given us the priceless gifts of real-world education and experience that are earned and deserved through no other way. Because of our failures, our chances to succeed are now vastly improved. So don’t be stopped when failure arrives to teach you. Pivot. Gain a new vantage point. Then find your way forward again. Your future self, the potential of YOU, thanks you for not quitting today.

“Pivot to Progress” by Jeremiah J. Cox: Founder & CEO at Riingo inc.