The Courage to Adjust

There are a few basic responsibilities that every coach has (I've listed them in the back of The Discovering Greatness Playbook). One of the biggest is The Courage to Adjust.

It's difficult. You go in with a game plan. You've practiced a set of plays. You've committed to a roster. But if your system isn't working, you need to have the courage to throw it out.

It's a common mistake that coaches make at all levels; they get so committed to the virtues of what they planned that their egos won't let them make the changes their team needs for victory. The stick with the starters who don't have their heads in the game; they run the same bad plays . . .

You know that's the definition of insanity, right? To keep doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result.

Youth Baseball Season is upon us (local sign-ups are next Saturday). If there's one thing that baseball, as a sport, does correctly, it's having the courage to make a change.

The rosters are designed for it: a variety of pitchers and hitters are available at the disposal of a well-prepared baseball coach. If a guy is having an off-day from the mound, pull him. Hey, in baseball we recognize that any pitcher can be out of rhythm. With no disparity or disgust, we simply shrug it off and give the next guy a chance. The success of the team comes first.

Sure, you may give a guy a chance to get into step, and you should, but if it's just not coming together you pull him. You'll give him a shot another day. No harm, no foul (like the pun?), you're still a good guy and a quality pitcher, today's just not your day.


In business, especially in tough times, we often wait too long to make a personnel change. We've got the wrong guy on the mound; we're running the wrong playbook. But we stick with it, our egos to big for us to acknowledge we've made a mistake. If we want to win, if we want to survive, we need to have the Courage to Adjust.