Commit the Foul

A couple of weeks ago my son's basketball team finally won their first game. To say they were excited would be an understatement. As their coach, I was relieved we weren't going to be 0-8 for the season!
 
Before the season started it was obvious that our team would have its challenges. The team's tryout assessment results were below average, two-thirds struggle with attention and temperament issues, and many had never even played basketball before.
 
Needless to say, not a great recipe for wins.
 
So what was the secret to our win (and an almost win this last week)?
 
𝗔𝗴𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀.

Instead of focusing on doing all of the basketball things perfectly, I told the team the 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 I wanted from them was aggressiveness. If a ball was on the ground, they were on the ground fighting for it. Every chance they got, they were supposed to go for a steal. We even celebrated when somebody got called for a foul because it meant they were doing everything they could to get the ball.
 
The results of focusing on aggressiveness:

•𝗘𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 and 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 went through the roof… for both the team and the crowd!
•We got way more 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 to take shots and increase our score.
•Our 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗳𝗹𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 and couldn't make anything happen.
•Our lack of skills/talent and 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁.
•It tapped into my team's ability to only 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 - get the ball!
 
So many of our weaknesses and shortcomings as a team and individuals can become less relevant simply by increasing our aggressiveness. Focus on the main thing and make serious moves to move in the direction of the main thing.
 
At Pattern we want people to 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗮𝗴𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆. It’s a staple of our Learning Forward core value and a driving force of our Own It core value.
 
𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘭.
Celebrate failure (learning experience).
Enjoy more opportunities to win.