An Algorithm: Founder + CEO = Girls’ Basketball Coach?
I spend part of my Sundays watching two programs – Sunday Morning and 60 Minutes. I watch because I always learn something and find both programs very interesting. This past Sunday (11/24/13), 60 Minutes featured a story about Malcolm Gladwell, the author of a current New York Times bestseller titled, David and Goliath. The book examines the struggles of underdogs versus favorites. Part of Gladwell’s research took him to Vivek Ranadive.
Ranadive, a native of India, arrived in America with $100 in his pocket and one semester paid at MIT. He obtained his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in four years and then an MBA from Harvard University. He went on to become the founder and CEO of TIBCO, a multi-billion dollar computing company.
The 60 Minutes piece, however, has nothing to do with the business acumen that Ranadive obviously possesses, but instead deals with his approach to coaching basketball for his daughter’s middle school team. Ranadive NEVER played the game of basketball, he never dribbled a basketball, he never scored a basket, and, obviously never was asked to coach a basketball team. As a matter of fact, he never TOUCHED a basketball. Add to the self-admitted lack of basketball knowledge, he, also, had a team that had very little talent and virtually no ability to put the ball in the basket. So he approached the job like he approached the business world – create an algorithm (a step-by-step procedure for calculations), study all aspects, analyze what works and what doesn’t, examine your staff (team) and figure out a path to success.
He observed that the only way his team could score was by shooting lay-ups. The only way they could shoot lay-ups was to steal the ball from the other team. His girls could run – they couldn’t shoot. He decided not to even practice shooting. It was fruitless. Instead, he taught them to press, double-team and triple-team all over the court. With a steal and a quick pass, his girls could shoot lay-ups, the only shots at which they were adept. They frustrated their opponents to the point where one opposing coach threatened to beat him up after a game. His team played so well that the girls competed in the state championship. It was coaching genius, or perhaps more accurately, just genius.
He literally fell in love with basketball. So he took, for him anyway, the next natural step, a new algorithm: Love of Game + Plenty of Money = Buy a Team. And he did.
First, he became co-owner of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, the first person of Indian descent to do so. He had to sell his share of that team in order to become the leader of the ownership group that bought the NBA’s Sacramento Kings.
Perhaps we should all spend a little more time studying algorithms.
You can watch the 60 Minutes piece at:
http://cowbellkingdom.com/2013/11/25/watch-vivek-ranadive-interviewed-for-malcolm-gladwell-piece-on-60-minutes/
ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)
1. On Friday night, Kareem Williams of Parkland rushed for 309 yards and four touchdowns. In the past two weeks, he has run for 536 yards and six TDs and has 1,830 yards for the season. BUT it is not even the best rushing performance in his family. Brother Andre, a Parkland grad, rushed for 602 yards the past two weeks for Boston College against North Carolina State and Maryland. He became only the 16th player in NCAA history to surpass 2,000 yards in a season (Barry Sanders, Marcus Allen, LaDainian Tomlinson, Ricky Williams, to name a few). He leads the nation in rushing and is being considered for the Heisman Trophy. Boston College has one more regular season game against Syracuse.
2. Speaking of rushing performances, Nick Savant of Saucon Valley is the leading rusher this season in the District with 2,135 yards.
3. We will continue the state championship run by our local teams on RCNTV -4/1004 HD this Saturday with LIVE coverage of St. Joe’s Prep vs. Parkland in a PIAA AAAA game at 1:00pm and Imhoptep vs. Catasauqua in a AA tape-delayed game at 7:00pm.
4. Drew Reed, the Lafayette freshman QB “phenom”, was named both the Offensive Player of the Week and the Rookie of the Week in the Patriot League after his MVP performance in Lafayette’s 50-28 win over Lehigh. He was also named as a finalist for the Jerry Rice Award given to the top FCS freshman in the country. Lafayette next moves to the FCS playoffs against New Hampshire. Twenty-four teams will battle it out for the National Championship. You can watch the game Saturday at noon on ESPN3.
5. During this Thanksgiving week, the RCN sports staff thanks all of our viewers for spending time with us during the football season. Enjoy the family, the football and the turkey!
NFL PICKS FOR THIS WEEK (7-6-1: Last week; 109-66-1 overall 62%)
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