Be Quick – but Don’t Hurry

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When I was growing up, UCLA men’s basketball was a dynasty. They were led by coach, John Wooden, who was known as the “Wizard of Westwood,” which is the L.A. community where UCLA is located. Wooden led UCLA to 10 national championships in a 12-year period, including seven in a row. In their heyday, they won 75 games in a row.

I thought of Wooden yesterday when my District Superintendent was sharing about the importance of the contemplative life. Wooden used to tell his teams, “Be quick, but don’t hurry.”

This sounds like an oxymoron, but it makes sense. To be quick is to be focused and intentional. It avoids hesitation and seizes opportunities. Hurrying results in rushed decisions and unnecessary mistakes.

People are more hurried than ever. They feel overwhelmed by life. As leaders, if we can model being quick, without hurrying it will help us and those we work with. Here are three ways to do this.

Focus on effort, not results

Believe it or not, Wooden did not talk about winning. He emphasized working hard in practice and maximum effort in games.

Focusing on effort and not results creates a Zen-like detachment from the outcome. As a self-differentiated leader, it enables you to have high expectations without putting undue pressure on those you lead.

Further, when you define things by outcomes you end up judging yourself, and those you lead, unfairly. Sometimes things go well, even when you didn’t give your best effort. Other times you do your very best and things don’t turn out.

This is especially true in the spiritual life. Daily practices such as prayer, journaling and meditation don’t seem to have immediate results. But sustaining these practices slow us down, so we can speed up.

Martin Luther famously said, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” To me, this is the epitome of be quick but don’t hurry.

Consistent effort enables you, as a leader to move quickly, without being sloppy.

Kaizen

This is the Japanese term for continuous, incremental improvement. Wooden didn’t use this term, but he lived it. He coached his players to continually improve their skills and their knowledge.

In just about any area of life, you have to start slowly. Learning to play an instrument is a good example. When learning a new technique or song, things move slowly. Mistakes are made. But over time, competence increases. This results in the ability to be quick, without hurrying.

In fact, most musicians will tell you that when they perform, they do their best when they are not thinking about what they are doing. It is the work they did to prepare that enables them to be quick, but not hurry.

Living a reflective life has the same affect for spiritual leaders. Time spent daily enables your subconscious mind to process your life in a way that doesn’t happen when you are constantly busy. I believe it’s how we connect with God. It helps you to be quick but not hurry.

Keep it simple

Doing a few things well is better than doing many things with mediocrity. Wooden kept his basketball program simple. They had a simple offense, one out-of-bounds play and one defense (man-to-man). By practicing these simple concepts continuously, they became the best in the game.

Applying consistent effort and continuous improvement work best when you avoid overcomplicating things. The more complicated something is, the harder it is to learn and to master.

Occam’s razor, also known as the law of parsimony, is a problem-solving principle that states that simpler solutions are more likely to be correct than more complex ones. In other words, don’t overcomplicate things.

A consistent practice of 10 minutes of meditation each day is better than an inconsistent practice of prayer, mediation and journaling.

Doing your most important work regularly, rather than scattering your efforts, will move your life forward. It will help you develop greater skill. This will enable you to move quickly without hurrying.

Whether it’s your spiritual life or your role as a leader, Coach Wooden’s advice is helpful. Be quick but don’t hurry.

The Rev. Jack Shitama serves as executive director of Pecometh Camp & Retreat Ministries in Maryland. This post is republished with permission from his blog The Non-Anxious Leader.