One of the distinguishing marks of a great team is how they view their opponent. Opponents are easy to identify in sports. Teams outside of sports, however, may have a difficult time identifying an opponent. Opponents are simply that which opposes a team. It can be another team. It can be a competitive business. Opponents can be
When I have a headache I usually suffer and complain until my wife asks me, “Did you take something?”. I almost always say no. I don’t like to take medication. The reality is, most of the time the water does more good for my headache than the pill does because my headache may be caused by dehydration.
We all have limited bandwidth. That limit is difficult to accept sometimes because it’s not as visible as our gas gauge on the dashboard of our car. The reality is, many times I don’t have enough personal bandwidth to realistically complete the work I have agreed to finish. This will inevitably come to light as I begin
I am more likely to make a mental mistake when I leave things to chance. Why would I do that? Most of the time it is an overconfidence that causes me to forget the effort required to be effective at a task. I cut corners because my past success in an area leads to an entitlement to the
It is important to avoid jumping to conclusions when mental mistakes annoy us. We can’t solve the equation without knowing all the variables. Settling on one explanation with some of the facts is never as effective as finding the one explanation that is supported by all of the facts. Replacing assumptions with questions is always a better use
Mental mistakes are those mistakes that are not a result of a lack of training or experience. They are mistakes that we know better than to allow and they happen for a number of reasons. We can get caught up in assuming why those mistakes are happening. This undisciplined practice can undermine the dynamic of a team by
While procrastination is a good practice when keeping an open mind, it is irresponsible when used to buy time to not act. There are times that we don’t want to do something. Maybe we don’t know how to do that specific thing and feel we will be exposed. Perhaps we disagree with the direction of the team
When there is a lack of information, it is best to procrastinate until the last possible moment before deciding how to act. Most people would call that wise unless they are impatient. Great teammates refuse to make up their mind too quickly. Keeping an open mind requires procrastination. Therefore the virtue of an open mind is only
Why are so many people so last-minute? Is there actually a time and place to procrastinate? This self-induced stress is common because procrastination has a way of focusing us as we let our options tick away as the deadline draws near. Waiting has an art to it. Some people are impulsive and tend to hate waiting. These
A great teammate understands not only how to manage the inevitable stress that comes our way but how to leverage it to be an advantage. Stress is often confused with anxiety. Athletes that can focus are not stress-free but use stress as a tool to focus. When we allow fear to enter our stress, it works against