Editor's note: This column is the part of an occasional series by Skeet Whitlow offering coaching insights and strategies.
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Now here is a key coaching leadership strategy: Think "Less Is More,"
Rationalize on what has worked and what has not, and review all the pluses and minuses of your team strengths and weaknesses.
A "Less Is More" system of play is all about simplicity and minimization.
Simply put, determine what tactics will best work for your team's success. Then develop an intense repetitive training plan that will transition these tactics to making your team an elite-level team.
The "Less Is More" concept does have a scientific justification called the Pareto Principle -- what is known as the "80-20 rule".
Management consultant Joseph Juran developed the principle and named it after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who shaped the 80/20 philosophy in the late 19th century in his work, Cours d'economie politique.
The argument goes like this: Eighty percent of your team performance gains will come from 20 percent of your growth efforts. So, focus on the 20 percent and the most critical team tactics necessary for your success and you should have faster growth and quicker and better outcomes.
Skeet Whitlow has a BA in Psychology from Barton College and did graduate work at Duke University. He is a Western New York resident who has been involved in basketball consulting and coaching at a variety of levels as well as working as an executive business professional and entrepreneur.
