“Where some people say, “worst possible decision,” (Pete Carroll) says “worst possible outcome.”
– Greg Bishop, in Sports Illustrated’s August 3, 2015 Feature Story on Seattle Seahawks coach, Pete Carroll
Look, as a card-carrying shareholder and season-ticket sharing Green Bay Packer fan, I’m required to dislike Pete Carroll, and I have, for a long, long time. That is, until I read Greg Bishop’s interview with / feature story on Carroll in the August 3, 2015 SI. It’s followed by a great feature on Shaka Smart by Brian Hamilton. Those two interviews will drive this week’s Daily Difference posts.
When we focus on decisions, we’re too often in the rear-view mirror in a way that casts blame and second guesses. The rear-view mirror, as I’ve posted for years, is important but only inasmuch as it tells us where we’ve been.
I still wonder about the rules breaking at USC. I still don’t think I’d like my kid to play for Pete Carroll — there’s just something there that bugs me. But the way he thinks and makes decisions — well he’s all about outcomes and continuous improvement, and there’s a lesson in there for every leader.
For those of you who are football fans, it’s easy to say, “Pete Carroll made the “worst possible decision,” on the Seahawks last offensive play of the game. Whether he did or didn’t, that play — that decision — is over and he’s moved on. The outcome may well inform a future decision, and that is as it should be for leaders. And Carroll’s system is about outcomes.
More on the concept of a “system,” tomorrow.
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