At the end of every NBA game, the best player of the winning team is interviewed by a TV reporter. If you’ve watched a few NBA games, you know that these interviews are a bit of a forced ritual. The questions are often meaningless or contrived and the player’s answers are practiced mantras about “giving a lot of effort”, “playing hard”, and “making shots”. One of these often repeated phrases is “I was put in a position to succeed”. I want to talk about that one.
Post-game interviews are boring. They are part of the TV broadcasting minutia forced on NBA games. In rare instances they can be an opportunity for a player to be emotional or vulnerable. And the best ones provide a fun moment of team camaraderie when a teammate interrupts the interview. But for the most part, on the face of it, they are meaningless. Listening a bit more closely to player’s answers though, I think they can provide a glimpse into the mindset and culture of basketball players.
Players practice these answers! They are professionals, not just at playing the sport but also at dealing with the media. They know how to answer a question succinctly, to couch it in vagaries, to keep it general enough to be understandable by the casual fans watching. But the language they use to give these answers is pure basketball. They don’t use business speak or scientific language. They use the fundamental building blocks of language that basketball teams speak in.
“We left it all on the floor tonight.”
“We came out with a lot of effort.”
“We made it difficult for them.”
“We got some good looks and made some shots down the stretch.”
And my favorite: “My teammates put me in a position to succeed.” or “The coaching staff did a great job putting me in a position to be successful.”
This answer is often given by players when asked about their own game-winning performance. In that context, it may sound like self-deprecation from a player with clearly superior talent. It’s not. It can sound like an equivalent to “I couldn’t have done it alone”, or to put it more bluntly “the others helped”. It’s not. I think the phrase has a far deeper and more specific meaning.
Literally
Take it literally. The phrase refers to positions on the floor that the player was able to successfully score from. The statement “coach put me in a position to succeed” gives credit to a coaching staff that employed scouting, strategy, and statistical analysis, creating schemes of where each player should be on the floor for any particular offensive or defensive configuration. They create plays that move players around on the court to open up spaces, confuse the opponent, and give their players the opportunity to score. Plays are designed to move players into positions that allow them to take advantage of their particular skill sets. Shooters are moved to the three point line, post players to the low post, a non-shooter may hover in the dunker spot. Basketball coaches put their players in physical locations where they can score.
Saying “my teammates put me in a position to succeed”, a player may be talking about teammates passing them the ball in just the right spot. Or setting a screen. Or moving off the ball that opened up space to allow the player to get to the rim. Basketball is a team sport so in order for any player to score their teammates have to play a major part in that effort. If they don’t, the other team's defense can focus on the player with the ball and make scoring much more difficult.
Both coaches and teammates are essential in influencing the game to literally put players in position to succeed.
Literally-ish
What, if anything, can we learn from that and apply to engineering? Engineering may be a team sport but physical location matters very little. And team success does not depend on the physical movement of engineers. But if we look at “position” in a more abstract sense, I think there are clear parallels to the literal meaning of the phrase.
Most engineering tasks, just like scoring the basketball, require coordination and collaboration with teammates. Teammates’ tasks and activities may be aligned with one's own task, or interfere. A fellow programmer may work on the same file or break the build. One engineer may be using the resource that is required for another to complete their task. Managers need to be aware of the activities across the team, coordinate them, and make sure resources are available where and when needed. Teammates need to be aware of each others' activities and actively support each other in those activities.
Putting people in position to succeed is also about giving people tasks that play to their strengths. In basketball as in engineering, the goal is to increase confidence and the likelihood of success. A manager should be highly aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the people on their team! Tasks should be assigned to people who are confident in their ability to complete them to provide opportunity for accomplishment. At times, people should be challenged to move out of their comfort zone by taking on tasks beyond their skill or ability. Like Marc Gasol and Brook Lopez shooting threes. It provides the chance to learn a new skill, improve a technique, or grow into a different area. This “engineer development” is crucial but should be applied in moderation. When used too much, it can increase the engineer's stress level and have a detrimental effect on their confidence.
Team members can put each other in a position to succeed by asking each other for help. An engineer with a lot of work may ask a teammate with down time to help out on a portion they are proficient at. This increases team productivity by getting more work done and more importantly strengthens the relationships between team members. The overworked engineer is less stressed and the helping engineer gains a boost by being able to help a teammate and contribute to the overall success of the team. Both are psychological effects with lasting gains. Engineers should also ask each other for advice, feedback, and opinions. Being asked for one’s opinion or to share one’s expertise in a certain area can be a confidence booster for one engineer and a learning opportunity for the other.
When opportunities arise to “take big shots” such as important tasks or projects, or presentations to customers or management, teammates can put each other in position to succeed by supporting each other to take advantage of these moments. This should be balanced with team member's qualifications and personal comfort in those moments but can provide great boosts to individual’s confidence levels and team cohesion.
Metaphorically
The phrase is also meant metaphorically. Coaches work with players to develop their skills and conditioning. They motivate their players and teach them the mechanics of the sport. Over time these efforts may enable a player to be successful where before they were not. Teammates may be supportive and encouraging, may cheer and teach and provide friendship. All of these efforts help to develop a player's abilities, their confidence, and build the culture and environment the player needs to thrive. They may contribute slowly over time or in a specific moment to a player’s ability and mindset to make the winning play or take the final shot.
Engineering managers can metaphorically put their engineers in position to succeed by providing resources and opportunities for development and growth. That includes task assignments to stretch an engineer’s abilities or increase their skill level. But also access to educational resources and conferences. Perhaps more importantly, managers can be a great source of motivation and confidence for individual team members. Developing relationships with their engineers and fostering an atmosphere of trust and support is essential for the productivity of the team, employee retention, and overall success of the team’s efforts.
The most crucial ingredient in any teams success and the key attribute of highly successful teams is team chemistry. “My teammates put me in a position to succeed” is metaphor for that secret ingredient. More important than coaching and management, than player movement and engineer collaboration are the personal relationships and the emotional support among teammates. Praising and thanking each other. Cheering and encouraging each other. Teaching and challenging and giving each other feedback. Listening and being interested in each other’s lives, successes, and struggles. Put it all together and it translates into a team that moves on a string, that collaborates seamlessly and operates without ego.
In a phrase, a team that’s in a position to succeed.