A Single Seed: Aim to Be the Worst (At First)

Brad Stevens is arguably the most talked-about NBA coach in the world today. His cerebral style of coaching mixed with genuine care for his players and a deep understanding of the game have catapulted him into the spotlight, as his humble nature and players-first mentality have made him a fan favorite and garnered him near-unanimous respect around the league. But Stevens wasn't always a wunderkind. In fact, when Stevens first got his start coaching (as a coordinator of basketball operations at Butler University, a job far lower on the totem pole than it sounds), he quickly realized he was in far over his head. In his words, he had "no clue" what he was doing.

So how did the 23 year-old who had absolutely no coaching experience when he was hired go on to lead Butler to two national championship games, and four straight (and counting) NBA playoffs with the Boston Celtics?

He is a shining example of a principle that should always be thought about when surrounding yourself with a group of people:

Never be the best musician in the band.

As our lives progress, we often search for different circles of like-minded people to spend our time with, whether it's a book club, Crossfit gym, a business partnership, or running group. Generally, we seek out these people because they share a similar interest or common goal, and in the case of a business partner, your business' success is directly dependent on how capable they are within their realm. So, it can be natural to simply search for people who think the same as you do, seem to be motivated to succeed, and are somewhat competent in the area you're interested in.

But that may not be enough.

Think of how growth works in the early years of our lives. We learn mostly from teachers, parents, and other adult figures who generally know (or at least think they know) more about how things work than we do. Coaches are better at baseball than we are, chemistry teachers know more about chemistry than we do, and grandmas are better at baking cookies than we are. As children, we are almost certainly worse than these people at whatever it is that they were teaching us. Eventually, we learned enough to become semi-competent, and maybe even excelled. The baseball player who listened well and practiced everyday becomes a high school star, and eventually gets a chance to play at a Division 1 school. But once he gets there, he is almost certainly dropped to the status he held as a child.

Although he may have been the best on his high school team, he may very well be the worst on his college team.

And this is how he learns.

Would a player who starred in high school but chose a Division 3 school just to be the best on the team have much of a shot at making it to the major leagues? Probably not. By being the best on the team, he is not likely to learn much, as he is surrounded by people who he is already better than. Although he can surely still learn something from them, his learning ceiling is almost certainly far lower than if he were to choose the Division 1 school where he would be the worst.

By actively seeking a group that would know more than he did, he will set himself up to eventually reach or even exceed their levels of skill, and no doubt his own level of skill that would have plateaued quickly at the Division 3 school.

Brad Stevens was lucky enough to get brought on to a coaching staff that included Thad Matta and Todd Lickliter, two incredibly successful coaches who have firmly stamped their place in NCAA history. Matta was the assistant coach at Butler when Stevens was hired, but went on to become the winningest head coach in Ohio State history, long one of the NCAA's powerhouse programs. Lickliter was a revolutionary head coach at Butler who implemented a system that preached attention to details and efficiency, eventually taking the team deep into the NCAA tournament in three out of the six years he was head coach.

Stevens credits Lickliter for his now-famous coaching outlook, but was in the presence of incredible knowledge from the first day he was hired on the staff. He knew the job would be daunting, and had little confidence in his ability (once telling his girlfriend "...if I were the head coach, we would stink."), but took the leap and never looked back. But, had he been surrounded by coaches who did not have the knowledge or capabilities that Matta and Lickliter had, there's no telling if the world would have ever even heard the name Brad Stevens. Thankfully, their genius rubbed off on him, and Stevens was pinned as Lickliter's successor, eventually taking over the head coach position at Butler in 2007. Stevens would go on to compile an outstanding record of 166-49, leading Butler to the NCAA tournament in five of the six years he was there, and reaching two national championship games. In the NBA, his Boston Celtics have improved their record from the previous year in each of the five seasons he's coached there, and are currently poised to head to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

At first, Stevens was clearly the worst musician in the band. And now he's one of the best in the world. But you can bet he's still not satisfied.

What does your band look like?

"A Single Seed" is my attempt to get out one idea every day that I've learned or accumulated over the years, with the hope that it may stick in someone else's memory bank as well. The idea may be related to fitness, business, life, or philosophy, but I think you'll find that many can change domains if you wish them to. With each seed planted, a new life awaits.

Image credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Stevens