Defeat’s Victory! — Quotidian — 403

(Transcript of video originally posted on 27 Jun 2022)

There is this NBA thing! National Basketball Association… The world’s, probably the world’s greatest display of basketball skill and artistry… In that NBA, I came across an interesting bit of statistics. You can check out the URL up above too. Most MISSED SHOTS in NBA history. You attempt a shot. But, you miss it, the ball doesn’t go through the ring and the net. That’s a missed shot. Who holds the record for the maximum of those? A record like that!! I have erased that person’s body so I can give you time to guess who that would be.

But, totally shocking! It is actually Kobe Bryant! One of the greatest of the greats! When Michael Jordan is close to retirement, Kobe plays a game with him, and he is hailed as the Next Michael Jordan… Who, by the way the Greatest of the Greats! And, Kobe Bryant has broken so many more records than Michael. This record though, is for the maximum number of shots missed. There is a message there for us… Do you recognise what it is?

Namaste! Yesterday, we saw the Defeat of Victory. Today, we are going to see the converse. The Victory of Defeat. The same book. The Winning Way. A Chapter on Defeat.

First, let us look at this quote from J K Rowling. About Defeat. “You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all — in which case, you fail by default.” Such a beautiful call to action, I would think.

The West Indies Team of the 80s. We talked about the amazing world-famous victory for India in the 1983 World Cup, over the West Indies. This is the team that lost to us. But, what happened after that? Do you know?! It was almost as if we had awakened a sleeping giant! We gave West Indies the spirit to win!

Just look at these numbers. Immediately after the World Cup win by India against the West Indies, we toured the West Indies. We lost 5–0. One Days. And, after that 5–0 blackwash, do you have any idea how long India had to wait for a win against the West Indies? All over the world? They had to wait five years! To get a single win! And, that win? A solitary win in a 6–1 drubbing by the West Indies who toured India! Once again! Who were they? Clive Lloyd! Vivian Richards! Malcolm Marshall! Gordon Greenidge! Giants! Stalwarts! So, sometimes, a defeat is actually useful. Early on. Before the stakes are too high. Because, it wakes you up, and tells you that you can’t underestimate the opposition, you can’t take anything for granted, everyday you start from zero… If you are looking for golden lessons like these, an occasional loss is actually GOOD!

This person here is Pat Riley. He is considered one of the greatest coaches in NBA history. He has coached the Miami Heat. And the Los Angeles Lakers. He, I think, has the maximum number of Championship Rings. He has won as a Player. As an Assistant Coach. As a Head Coach. As an Owner. As an Executive. He has written this book called The Winning Within. He talks about something very special. He says, “The Defeat of Us…comes, sometimes, from this Disease of Me!”. Find out if you are afflicted by this Disease of Me. Have you lost? Are you planning to analyse? Well, look for the Disease of Me first!

So, what is this Disease of Me? He gives these Seven Deadly Sins. He asks you to look for these seven problems! Inexperience with success. Can you bear the crown of victory” lightly on your head? The burden of success that we saw yesterday. If you see somebody struggle because of inexperience there, Problem! Is there somebody moping in a corner, often, feeling that nobody appreciates him enough for his contributions? That is a Problem! Is somebody feeling that they are always getting “cheated out”? That they MAY GET cheated that? That they WILL NOT get the opportunity that they deserve? Are there people like that in your team? Problem! Is somebody upset and having a heartburn because somebody else in the same team is doing something exceptional?? When you are in a team, you should be HAPPY that you are among top performers! If you are unhappy, if you are feeling resentment, that somebody else in your team is doing well, Problem! Is a team member’s personal effort geared towards bettering the opposition? Or, is it aimed at outshining somebody else within the team?! Problem! Are there rivalries internally? It is not the India-Pakistan rivalry! It is among Pakistani players. It is among Indian players. Who will be higher in the batting order? Who will bowl the last over? If he is batting, I won’t go as the second runner… This sort of rivalry! Big problem. The team will be decimated! And, finally, even if the team actually wins, even if the team member has actually won, are they filled with frustration, just because they couldn’t do their best, they didn’t contribute to that win, … are they frustrated? Among these seven sins, even if you have committed just one of these, even if just one of these has infected your team, please get in and fix it fast! The seven deadly sins..! The Disease of Me that leads to the Defeat of Us!

You must surely know this guy. Sachin Tendulkar. He seems slightly upset. I am sure you know this person too. Michael Jordan. He seems deep in thought.. Upset. The reason I picked these “mood out” pictures is… Harsha Bhogle says in that book — both of these players had a specific problem! Their problem was — They wanted to win it for the team. They assumed they HAD to win it for their team. A motivation. A drive. Good. But, what is the bad side? The other side of the coin? Everybody else in the team assumed these two would win it for their team! That is the problem! If you have a superduper star in your team, this is a problem you need to fix. Because, they will all assume that the superstar will win it for us. Why..! Haven’t we seen this in our Superstar movies too? Too often, we think, just because we have that Superstar in our movie, the movie will be carried forward! Businesses.. companies.. you can notice the same story playing out.

Success.. Failure.. They aren’t a black and white, clear distinction. There is a beautiful bell curve of activity. Yes… there is SUCCESS in one end of the scale. The winners. Very few. But, you find them there. FAILURE is on the other end of the spectrum. Yes. That is failure. But, there is a lot in between! That grey area.. We aren’t respecting it enough, says Harsha Bhogle.

What are those grey areas? There are two areas. One, before the peak of the curve, is the place where we realise we could have done better. We could have put in some more effort. I am capable of better. That is the first grey area. And then, there is this second area where you have already put in one hundred percent of effort, but because of reasons beyond your control… numerous reasons you have no control over… lead to you not winning, you not succeeding, that day.

In the 80s and the 90s, there was this German lady. They called her Fraulein Forehand. Steffi Graf. You must have heard of the name. Simply amazing! She has won SO MANY Grand Slams. She hold the record for the maximum number of weeks at Number One position in the ATP rankings. But, she had a problem. Her problem was,… her backhand? Was always a sliced backhand. The two-handed forced backhand, she was never able to really execute it well. Sliced backhand. But, you know what she did? She focused on her strengths. What was her strength? That was her MONSTROUS forehand. Very powerful. That’s why she was called Fraulein Forehand. In that book, Harsha Bhogle says, … this is a lesson we have seen earlier too. Focus on your strengths. Ignore your weaknesses. It is okay! The way he puts it is… “Do not let what you CAN’T DO interfere with what you CAN DO!” How beautiful!

As a closing thought, I want to share an interesting quote I found in that book. This is Jack Welch. The CEO of GE, once upon a time. Famous as a super-powerful, turn-around CEO! He has commented on something truly timeless. True then. True today. True forever too, I would think. He says, “If the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, I am sorry, the end is near”! How beautiful! We have reached the end of THIS video. See you again, on the Sixth of July! Thank you!