I came across an interesting article in the Washington Post on research done out of Spain on the 'randomness' of basketball games. Yves de Sáa Guerra of University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria studied 6130 basketball games and learned basketball is not really random. This, obviously, intrigued me a great deal.
Basketball teams were found to be much like sand dunes - self-organized systems - that flow until even the smallest movement compels them to break from their flow into a different direction. This process allows basketball teams to recognize changes in their environment to take advantage situations for the betterment of the team. The team evolves ever so slightly.
There are a few keys for basketball teams to regularly engage in this 'micro-evolution'.
- Players, in practice, are forced to react in drills to different stimuli and make adjustments, and
- They are encouraged to explore various adjustments and make mistakes for it is in these mistakes where learning happens.
The article also talks about how the last minute of games are totally different than earlier parts of the game. Part of that is from added stress enforced by each team as well as the tightening up of the windows of opportunity. The article talks of how fouling increases in the final minute of a game and how games are decided, many times, by free throws. This, to me indicates, a shutting down of openness to opportunities and taking rash actions when the moment becomes too much-micro-evolution cannot manage the change in environment and breaks down. Top, championship teams take those actions less than other teams and, instead, seize the moment.
Basketball micro-evolution in business context
Companies, and leaders, that languish usually look to have processes and procedures that force things to be done certain ways, regardless of the circumstances. They dictate what to do and how to do it. They don't engender creativity, best practices or innovation. When mistakes are made, leaders blame and even berate those who 'committed' them discouraging further stretching. When stress comes, the organization cannot adapt because it has no experience with evolving based on various stimuli.
What are some ways you can develop and ingrain a culture where your teams, and your organization can continuously evolve?
- State and reinforce a position of encouraging your teams to search for new opportunities and nuances to their environment and ways to take advantage of them. Compel them to engage in micro-evolution.
- Set up structures where these ideas can be discussed, formally or informally with people that can see the bigger picture and guide the idea generators so, while they explore, they don't put themselves and the company into too much trouble.
- Proactively place stress on various structures to see how they react and adapt (This is Chapter 30 of my book, The Four Fundamental Forces of Leadership.
- Set a culture where mistakes are seen as learning and progression tools and not as sledgehammers to chastise.
In subsequent posts, I'll delve into each of these three bullets with some more specific ideas on each.
Each of the people in your organizations are capable of seeing opportunities and taking advantage of them. If you lead in a way that encourages that process, you have powerful resources to grow and evolve.