Someone we should have heard more about in this country is US teacher and sports coach John Wooden (1910—2010). Although his University College of Los Angeles (UCLA) basketball team were national champions 10 times in 12 years, a record that stands today, this is not the reason he should be a household name. It was his philosophy—in particular how he defined and pursued success for himself and his students—that marks him out from the crowd.
Most importantly, on the sports field he did not equate success with winning. In the classroom, he did not equate success with A-grades and it was his teaching experience during the 1930s that set him on a pathway to outstanding performance by his students and sportsmen. He describes becoming disillusioned when all parents expected their children to get A or B grades.[1]
“They thought a C was all right for the neighbours’ children, because they are all average,” he said. “But they weren't satisfied when their own [got a C]—it would make the teacher feel that they had failed, or the youngster had failed. And that's not right. The good lord in his infinite wisdom didn't create us all equal as far as intelligence is concerned, any more than we're equal for size, appearance. Not everybody could earn an A or a B, and I didn't like that way of judging it.”
So he developed his own and it became the cornerstone of sporting and academic success that he helped his students achieve. In his own words, “success is the peace of mind attained only through self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you're capable.” He cites a verse on which his own definition was based:
At God's footstool to confess,
A poor soul knelt, and bowed his head.
'I failed,' he cried. The Master said,
'Thou didst thy best, that is success.'
And here’s something to bear in mind next time you’re doing appraisals and setting targets. In the talk on which this item is based, John Wooden said that his most successful basketball players, for the team and individually, weren’t necessarily those with prodigious natural talent. Rather, they were the journeymen whose own endeavour squeezed every last drop of value from their perhaps limited talents – Robbie Savage rather than Christiano Ronaldo, perhaps. If you ignore recent alleged matters off the field, the modern day player who exemplifies both endeavour and talent, of course, is Ryan Giggs, in spite of which 2011 is still clearly his annus horribilis. So be careful what you wish for among your colleagues and be sure to appreciate the C grades where those concerned really have made the effort to do the best of which they’re capable.
References
[1] John Wooden, 2001. http://www.ted.com/talks/john_wooden_on_the_difference_between_winning_and_success.html
