Inspiration.
In the last three seasons, the Diamondbacks failed to make the playoffs. They failed with 89 wins, they failed with 80 wins, and they failed with 86 wins. They were so very close.
Why did they fall short?
Every day, Torey Lovullo thinks about possible ways to improve the Diamondbacks. Many players strive to stack one percent improvements. And yet it wasn’t enough.
Why?
First Thoughts.
One thought is that people more often find what they look for than what they are not looking for. The Diamondbacks are looking for improvements.
Is it that simple? No.
Another thought is that being optimistic helps people focus on good outcomes instead of bad outcomes. Perhaps focusing on good outcomes makes them more likely. Is it that simple? Although that is part of the answer, no.
Perhaps the Diamondbacks need more luck. Luck has long been seen as significant.
“Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to the men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all.” — Ecclesiastes 9:11
What is luck? Luck is when the underdog Diamondbacks win games against strong teams, especially when the reasons are a combination of small things that are not apparent beforehand. One example was that in July the Diamondbacks swept the Dodgers in a three game series. Recently underdog wins happened many times each season!
What specifically can the Diamondbacks do to make more good luck happen?
One approach is flexibility to try different things, with recognition to quickly know what is working, and continuing what works (at least until it doesn’t). This could be called trial and error. It would be very lucky if this approach got the Diamondbacks to the playoffs.
A better approach is to search for improvement ideas, implement some of the ideas, with recognition to quickly know whether each improvement is worth continuing,
Instead of narrowly, search broadly for improvement ideas. This idea about improvements extends a previous idea about baseball players that I found years ago. On the baseball field, the best baseball players have a narrow focus on their tasks AND a broad focus on everything relevant that could impact their task.
Instead of only a group of insiders, also talk with trusted outsiders who are wise and tell them what you are searching for.
Keep searching for improvement ideas. If one idea turns out to be spectacularly great, don’t let it stop the search. If one idea fails, don’t let it stop the search.
The best improvements to implement have small downsides, so that you can survive one or two failures. Although the upsides may be small, the improvement process can continue despite failures.
Some improvements give the player (or the team) choices that can address situations that can occur in specific games, even if the situations are relatively rare.
Some improvements make players on the other team react. Their failure to react would be to the Diamondbacks advantage.
Some improvements can be discovered by observing/investigating a team that is the best at one facet of the game. When the reasons are discovered, it sheds light on possibly unexpected ideas for improvement by the Diamondbacks.
“It’s never too late to be lucky.” — Makakilo
Summary.
Looking for improvements and optimism are not enough.
Luck is significant.
Two approaches that make good luck happen are trial and error and continuous improvement. Continuous improvement is better. It relies on improvement ideas.
When searching for improvement ideas, there are ways to make good luck happen.
- Search broadly for improvement ideas.
- Talk with trusted outsiders who are wise and tell them what you are searching for.
- Keep searching for improvement ideas, regardless of success and failure of an idea.
- The best improvement ideas have small downsides, so that you can survive one or two failures.
- Some improvements give players and teams choices in specific situations, even if the situations are relatively rare.
- Some improvements make players on other teams react to prevent a Diamondbacks advantage.
- Some improvement ideas can be discovered by observing/investigating a team that is the best at one facet of the game.
