One of my favorite things to do is break down old systems.
“Why do we do it that way?” — “I don’t know, we just do.”
Humans created systems hundreds of years ago that we still use for no real good reason. The design for the home where you live was most likely created almost a hundred years ago with minor add-ons.
The way we run schools, with a teacher up in front of the class, is the same as it was over one hundred years ago in tiny school houses across America.
I want you to see the holes in what you’re doing. The things you’re doing because you’ve always done them that way or because that’s how you were taught. Why not use that big brain of yours for something other than copying other people?
That’s a lot of what Physician Assistant Exam Scholars is all about. It’s too late to get the July issue where I really treat the fabric of rotations open for you, but I’ll give you a little nugget here.
I’ve been coaching a little league travel baseball team for five years now. These guys were around six years old when we started. They’re ten now.
Last Tuesday night we took the field against our arch-rivals – the team from one town over that always beats us. They beat us in the playoffs last year 2-1. They were good games, but they are the better team. Or were.
On Tuesday night we dismantled them. The Final score was 9-2 and they didn’t know what happened; that isn’t even the best part. The best part is that the system we’ve run for five years was working like a dream.
Every little league coach on the planet picks their best kid to pitch and their second-best kid to play second base. They add in three other players and EVERYONE else is relegated to the outfield like a bunch of rejects. Then they build a traditional batting order where the first five hitters are the “good” ones, and then the rest of the team hits.
Not us.
Every kid on our team plays 2 innings in the infield, 2 innings in the outfield (unless they rotate in as catcher), and 2 innings on the bench. Every kid. No exceptions. We roll through three completely different infields every six-inning game. The kids do pretty much stay in their spots. Meaning we have three kids who play short, three who play third, etc. It isn’t a free-for- all.
We bat 12 kids. We do a traditional lineup for 1-6 and then another traditional lineup for 7-12. And then flip those two in the next game. Meaning that numbers 1 and 7 are our fast on-base guys. Four and ten are our power-hitters. That way we don’t go through entire innings of kids struggling to make contact.
In the game on Tuesday, we went through 7 pitchers in six innings. We don’t have a kid throw more than one inning. At this age, most teams have their “ace” throw 3-4 innings.
Over the years, our kids have all learned and progressed. All of them. Not just the “good” kids. We now have an entire team of “good” kids instead of five. Every kid contributes, so they feel good and want to play. When you only get two innings in the infield, you better believe they’ve got incredible focus for those two innings.
We won by playing with 12 kids. Not by playing with 5 or 6, plus a supporting cast. But we may be the only team in America that does that.
They guy coaching the eight-year-old team is friend of mine. He already has his infield set. Four kids for six innings and everyone else rotates in the outfield and the bench. At 8 years old???
Now I am excited about how our kids look and I am a little self-aggrandizing, but the point is that you can win by taking the system apart. You can win by THINKING about what you do and not just doing it because that’s how someone else told you to. You’re crazy smart. You can do MORE. THINK about what you do mindlessly in a given day because you’ve never thought about it.
How about studying? Do you just read your book? Do you just highlight your notes? Are you putting anything into how you do what you do? Maybe you could have a little more time on your hands if you used a better system.
Want to try?
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This weekend only, you’re going to get Get It All Done Without Losing Your Mind for FREE with your purchase of Maximize Your Time and Efficiency.
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Maximize Your Time and Efficiency + package
Brian Wallace
