by Sean Devlin, Front Rush
This past weekend, I updated my fathers operating system on his computer.
It was a real pain because I couldn’t just install the operating system, I had to install a previous version of the operating system, update that version, and then install a new version after downloading it, and then update that…woah!
Do you know what my father learned from the experience? Absolutely nothing! Do you know what I learned from the experience? Absolutely nothing (I do this stuff all the time!)
So now the next time my father needs his computer fixed, he is going to call me and he is going to be inconvenienced because he has to wait for me and no comment on my my side because its never an inconvenience to do anything for my father…but you get the point.
So what can we all extract from this…?
Well let’s take the classic example of the older non-tech savvy coach and their younger more technically sophisticated assistant. How often is it that the assistant is doing all of the technical stuff and the head coach just looks on like either (a) it’s magic or (b) its beneath them or (c) too time consuming to learn. Well here is my request to you…
Assistant Coach: Make an attempt to teach whatever technical stuff you are doing. Make an attempt. You are use to teaching and coaching (you do this for a living) so try teaching and coaching your head coach. There might be resistance and awkwardness but if you teach them to fish, you can concentrate on bigger fish instead of spending time going after the little fish like “click on the icon with the big e on it”. Teach them to google. If there is an answer to any question, there is a good chance it exists in google. “How do I save a document”, “Where do I find the file I downloaded”, etc. Start off small and expand just like you would with anything.
Head Coach: Take the humble approach and ask questions, be open to learning new things. This ‘magic’ stuff is really impressive until you pull away the curtain and realize that all that it takes is to type in a search phrase into google to get an answer. Think about the productivity improvement that will occur on all ends when you free-up the reliance on your assistant. Think about the fear that you have now that your assistant will leave and in turn leave you with a wonderful system that you have no idea how to use. Think about the independence that you will have not to mention you might even wow them with a thing or two that you learn.
In high school, I spent many hot summer days swinging off a rope swing into the Delaware River. I was quite impressed with my ability to fly through the air and splash effortlessly into the river 30 feet beneath me. Then one day my 60 year old father shows up, without hesitation grabs the rope, does a perfect swan higher than any of us had reached prior, and leaves almost no splash beneath him. He got out of the water, strolled to his car and never said a word.*
*Note: He happened to be an all-america in the pool at Villanova and set several national records in High School…but the point still remains.
Front Rush is the #1 choice among college coaches who want to take an organized, intelligent approach to tracking and communicating with their recruits. They are the go-to tech experts for the staff at Tudor Collegiate Strategies and coaches around the country. What??? You aren’t one of them? Find out what all the buzz is about…CLICK HERE