Pursuing Perfection, Finding Excellence

|Peter Boettke|

That is the message that Vince Lombardi told the Packer players who previously went 1-10 as he took over the head coaching job in Green Bay.

Lombardi's coaching career reflects that motto --- we will pursue perfection, in full knowledge that perfection is unattainable, but in pursuing perfection in everything we do, we will find excellence.  And, as history shows excellence he and those players did find.

It is an amazing story of how Lombardi found that excellence at the High School (football and basketball), College (Army), and then NFL (Giants, Packers and Redskins).  The famous phrase of Lombardi that 'winning isn't everything, it is the only thing', takes on a new meaning when you learn that by winning he means this focus on details and fundamentals, and the pursuit of perfection.  Lombardi's message is almost identical to that of the other iconic coach -- John Wooden.

I highly recommend the HBO documentary on Lombardi to all teachers and those who have a leadership role in their jobs.  The move from good to great in individual and organizational pursuits, in my opinion, is tied up with these lessons from Lombardi.

Comments

[Mario Rizzo]

When you mention Lombardi you must mention FORDHAM UNIVERSITY -- an important time in his life. (Did you know that he once taught Latin at a Catholic high school?)

[Peter Boettke]

Yes Mario --- his fame as a football player rests with Fordham University's "perfection" as a team and his role on the team.

He taught physics, chemistry and latin while coaching football and basketball at catholic high school in Englewood, NJ.

[Richard Ebeling]

I have only one question. What's "football"?

I was a "nerd" in school, and spent all my time reading in the library.

Richard Ebeling

[K Sralla]

One thing I learned from playing athletics is that dim-witted coaches (or even those of average intelligence) seldom motivate their players. Most winning coaches are very smart people. I have also noticed that many have a particularly high math IQ, and many (though certainly not all) of the best have math related teaching specialties.

The best coaches are always masters at seeing things others don't see. They have mastered Bastiat's economic lesson of the seen and the unseen. Consider:

"There is only one difference between a bad coach and a good one: the bad coach confines himself to the visible effect; the good coach takes into account both the effect that can be seen and those effects that must be foreseen.

Yet this difference is tremendous; for it almost always happens that when the immediate consequence is favorable, the later consequences are disastrous, and vice versa. Whence it follows that the bad coach pursues a small present good that will be followed by a great evil to come, while the good coach pursues a great good to come, at the risk of a small present evil"

This is very true in the coaching profession, especially in the realm of training rules and team discipline. I'm sure it is also true in almost any other organizational leadership role.

P.S. To professor Ebeling. You keep doing what you are doing and forget about school. You are one of the most consistently clear and logical thinkers around, so your time in the library apparently served you well.

[Ed Weick]

Pete,

When I attended his high school, St. Francis Prep (then located in Brooklyn) the football team was very familiar with his quote: "When all else fails, try blocking and tackling."

Not a bad little gem to carry through life.

ED