Empty Stadiums, Experiencing Flow, Importance of Incentives, and Sean McVay
“On matters of style, swim with the current; on matters of principle, stand like a rock.” ― Thomas Jefferson
Good morning, coaches!
Today we have articles on what early data says about games played without fans and why compounding is the key to greatness, podcasts on how to incorporate ‘flow’ into your life and lessons on peak performance from the climber featured in the documentary ‘Free Solo,’ examples of why how you incentivize people is so important, and a great video interview with L.A. Rams head coach Sean McVay.
If you have any feedback or content you think could be helpful for other coaches, feel free to reach out or leave a comment.
Here we go!
ARTICLES
Do Empty Stadiums Affect Outcomes? The Data Says Yes: A German soccer league was the first to return after COVID with no fans in the stadium and researchers tried to see what the differences were. They found home teams performed worse, refs called more fouls on the home team, and did not cause players to play less intense. I do question if they controlled for the fact players may have been rusty or other factors, but regardless, it’s still interesting to read as many teams are going to play in the same type of environment for the near-future.
The number of home victories slipped by 10 percentage points, to 33 percent of matches in empty stadiums from 43 percent in full ones. The change has been so extreme, in fact, that Lukas Keppler, a managing director of the data and analytics firm Impect, noted a sort of “negative home advantage.” For the first time in soccer history, he said, it has appeared, at times, to be easier to be playing on the road.
Compounding Boredom is Simple, but Not Easy: This talks about the idea of compounding in terms of investing but it applies to everything in life - you get the smallest amount of improvement when you start the process of improvement, but they build over time and the important thing is sticking with whatever habit or skill you’re trying to build.
A famous Olympic weightlifting coach was once asked, “What’s the difference between the best athletes and everyone else?
He gave a surprising response: “At some point, it comes down to who can handle the boredom of training every day, doing the same lifts over, and over and over.”
PODCASTS
Note: if you want to listen to one of these podcasts, click the link at the end of the description to play it on the app of your choice. You may need to scroll back within your app to the date the episode released. If you are listening on a computer, I suggest using Overcast.
Game Changers with Molly Fletcher: Steven Kotler on The Science of Peak Performance. Steven Kotler is the Executive Director of the Flow Research Collective, one of the world’s leading experts on high performance, and the author of the best-selling book Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work. In this episode, he explains the mental aspect of peak performance and the science being the state of flow, which is the optimal state of consciousness where we feel and perform our best. He discusses how to structure your life to experience flow more often and says that sleep, hydration, and having social support are all incredibly important to experience flow as well. [July 9, 2020–48 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Overcast | Google | Breaker | Website Link
If you have a job that produces flow, you’re totally set because you’re lovingly obsessed with your work, deeply passionate. In a sense, flow over time is a recipe for passion.
a16z Podcast: Alex Honnold on Human Performance (part 1) — Where’s the Limit? Honnold is the professional rock climber who was featured in documentary, Free Solo, and talks all about human performance and what it takes to be the absolute best at your craft. He talks about what the outer limits of human achievement are and ensuring the time you spend practicing is both intense and measured. He also touches on the idea of having a huge long-term goal with multiple short-term, small goals along the way while remaining process-focused. [July 11, 2020–23 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Overcast | Google | Breaker | Website Link
Either you should be training with intensity or not training. That’s part of the reason I don’t go out and solo easy routes for fun because it’s junk mileage, it’s not making me a better climber. Sometimes you do it for fun but for the most part there’s no point, my time is better spent training in a more disciplined way.
MISCELLANEOUS
INCENTIVES MATTER!
It’s important to be aware of any incentives you put in place because they can lead to unintended consequences. Here’s one from the book Seeking Wisdom, along with a few others:
“When the first Dead Sea scrolls were discovered and the archeologists wanted more fragments of the scrolls to be found, they offered a reward per fragment. The result: the fragments were split into smaller pieces before they were turned in.”
…and…
Driven to Kill: After one near-miss of a motorcyclist, he said, “If I hit someone, I’ll hit him again and make sure he’s dead.” Enjoying my shock, he explained that in Taiwan, if you cripple a man, you pay for the injured person’s care for a lifetime. But if you kill the person, you “only have to pay once, like a burial fee.”
…and…
Cobra Effect: Attempting to solve a problem makes that problem worse. Comes from an Indian story about a city infested with snakes offering a bounty for every dead cobra, which caused entrepreneurs to start breeding cobras for slaughter.
…last one…
VIDEO
LA Rams Coach Sean McVay and Jon Gordon: The first 15:55 of the episode is on his career before he was hired by the Rams and I’d start after that. He talks about what he chose to prioritize to build the culture when he took over for the Rams: character (4 parts) and communication, both of which he clearly defines so the players have an expectation of what he exactly means by both. He also discusses being process driven, having a standard of performance regardless of the situation, the importance of having leadership within the locker room, and the fact that he loves to be a head coach because it gives him a platform to learn from great people.
Good coaches help their players reach their highest potential. And I think in order to be able to do that, it starts with being able to connect with them as a human being first, build and develop a relationship so that foundation exists that enables you to coach the player in a manner where they know, hey, I’m not criticizing ya, I’m coaching you because I care about you.