The "Process vs Result" Matrix Coaches Need

Hi Coach,

Before you dive in, two quick notes:

I hope this newsletter serves you!

Best,

Luke

One of my NIKE Volleyball Camp directors shared the video below with me over the weekend, and the ideas are too good not to share and write about.

Brett Ledbetter of What Drives Winning dives in to how coaches can deliver feedback to players and teams that reinforce positive decisions and behaviors, regardless of whether or not the outcome is positive.

Too often in sport and life, we judge the quality of a decision purely based on the outcome.

The challenge for us as coaches is:

How do we get our players and teams to stay committed to the process of good decisions, both on the court/field and in relationships/culture, even when their good decisions have a negative outcome?

My friends at PGC Basketball call this being N.A.T.O. (Not Attached To Outcome).

We all know that sometimes in sport, a poor decision can lead to a positive OR negative outcome, and a good decision can lead to a positive OR negative outcome.

The first step for us as coaches in helping our players and teams embrace a commitment to good decisions is to clearly define what good decisions and bad decisions look like.

This should be done both operationally (within the playing of the sport) and culturally (within the culture and relationships).

Ledbetter shares a helpful graph for thinking through these potential situations with process (decisions) and results (outcomes).

Here’s the key for the graphic below:

Ideally, we’d love every positive process to produce a positive result, but the reality is that they don’t.

The most challenging boxes to navigate are the top left (when the process is good but the result is bad) and the bottom right (when the process is bad but the result is good).

Let’s talk about how to handle each box as coaches.

Here are a couple examples Ledbetter shares:

These things happen all the time in sport and life.

Players make a good decision, but the outcome is poor.

So what do we do in this area?

We must be “emphatic with praise,” says Ledbetter.

We must be detached from the result and offer encouragement so that our players and teams know that they should persist with the good decisions they’re making.

We want them to keep doing things that lead to winning even when the results don’t show yet.

“The challenge is when the result isn’t on our side,” says Ledbetter.

This is the most challenging spot because we do not want the positive reinforcement received to drive more of the undesired process/decision.

Although the outcome was positive once, we know that operationally (in the sport) or behaviorally (with our culture) the outcome will be negative more often than not if the process/decision is repeated.

To combat this, we must engage the player and/or team in some honest conversations and provide them with opportunities to self-reflect.

We should remind them of the expectations and standards that have been set and the rationale behind them, then provide them with opportunities to self-evaluate.

Show them film clips and get feedback from the players/team about whether or not the process is sustainable to get the results we want.

Most of the time, they’ll come to the conclusion on their own that the process/decisions need to be better.

This is the easiest spot to deliver this feedback because the results are not positively reinforcing the poor decisions.

This is where we wish we could land all the time.

When it happens, praise it. “This is what we want and this is why we want it.”

The decisions are already being reinforced by the outcomes, and we have a chance to compound that reinforcement by celebrating it individually and as a team.

Positive reinforcement is powerful.

My favorite way to help my players and teams separate the process (decision) from the results (outcomes) in basketball is to teach a shot selection (the decision to shoot a shot) scale.

Watch a short 3 minute video explaining the process I use HERE on Doug Lemov’s Teach Like a Champion Blog (credit to PGC Basketball for the shot selection scale that I use).

It’s a simple system to teach my players the kinds of shots we want to shoot, then reinforce those shots regardless of whether or not the ball goes in.

We want a team of players who are committed to the process and trust that the results will follow.

How can you do this with your team?

A few thoughts on how this could apply in your coaching or leadership context…

Thanks for reading, I hope this serves you on your journey.

To your growth,

Luke Gromer, RYG Athletics | NIKE Sports Camps Provider

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