Execute Perfectly or Fewest Mistakes Wins

There are two ways of thinking when it comes to coaching and how you get your team to play when it comes to mistakes or lack of mistakes.  I think, however, that they are the one and the same.  I guess it depends on how you see the cup, half empty or half full.  Or maybe it is experience and reality that has guided me into my thinking.  Or is it because I realize it isn't what I say, but what they hear that matters.

When I was younger, I preached execution, execution, execution.  I wanted perfection.  To me, and I still believe this to some extent, that you want to pursue perfection.  Because by persuing perfection (which is unattainable) you will get closer to as good as you can possibly be than if you just accept mediocrity.  But what kind of pressure does that put on the average person or kid?  Do they sometimes let one mistake become a second, then a third, then a fourth and then they are finished?

For the past few years, I have stopped saying that as often.  It is something that I will still say because I think it is a valiant endeavor.  But I have pushed more and more that we make the fewest mistakes possible.  It is trying to accomplish the exact same thing, but it concedes that mistakes will be made.  By bringing the two ideas together, pursue perfection and making the fewest mistakes possible, you can reach different types of personalities that are on your team.

Let's be honest, the team who plays the closest to perfection is making the fewest mistakes.  And the team which makes the fewest mistakes usually does win. 

Perfection is unattainable, the fewest mistakes possible is perfectly attainable.