“Look, it’s all about Chapter Next…”
– Bob Shaver, extraordinary executive
It is, too. And it’s a lesson that I had drummed in to me as a teenager, on the baseball diamond.
Anytime I faced a runner at third base with less than two outs (an icky spot for a pitcher to be in, since most any contact by the batter has a good chance of driving in the run…), “Pete” (my high school coach) would step out in front of the dugout. My mom could see him. My dad could see him. My grandpa could see him. My girlfriend could see him. And people in the next county could hear him.
“YOU,” he would yell, pointing directly at me, “have to strike THIS guy OUT!” He would say it twice, every time, either to amuse himself or make sure that the dopey 17-year-old on the mound wouldn’t miss the point.
The point, though, wasn’t whether I struck “THIS guy” out. The point was to get my mind off the guy that reached third base, and get me focused clearly on “Chapter Next.” That focus is probably why I got either a strikeout or pop-up the huge majority of the time. There was nothing I could do about that guy getting to third base, I simply had to focus on the kid coming up next.
In business, as my friend Bob, points out, and as I’ve believed my whole career, there is nothing we can do about what has already happened. All we can do is focus on what. Comes. Next.
Mick Kirisits says
Good one; love your last paragraph!!!
Steve Heston says
As my dear friend and former client Mick Kirisits once said, “Let’s look forward!” It’s why you were such a good leader!
Medium J says
As with most (who are we kidding, ALL) things on the DD, they always come at just the right time!