In this episode, Scott Becker reflects on the tendency to blame tools instead of improving technique, drawing parallels between golf swings and business challenges.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic of this episode?
This is Scott Becker on the Becker Private Equity and Business Podcast. We try and teach, we try to understand and entertain. Hopefully, I'm learning, you're learning. Today's discussion, most of our episodes are more serious business episodes and private equity episodes. Today's discussion is, it's not a serious episode. This is titled, It's Not the Driver Stupid.
Chapter 2: Why do we blame tools instead of improving our skills?
So this is a takeoff, of course, of the old line, it's the economy stupid. For me, the line is it's not the driver stupid. And let me explain. So many of us are built like this. Something's not working as we want it to work. And rather than practicing it more, getting more training in it and really working at it, we decide that it's the equipment, not us.
Chapter 3: How does golf relate to business challenges?
And again, I recognize that this ridiculous behavior, but I'm so prone to it as a garage full of golf clubs will attest to. But the reality is there are clubs that can make it a little bit easier. But at the end of the day, the impulse control is to go back to working on hitting the driver and versus trying to switch the driver.
Chapter 4: Is it better to change the person or the tools?
Now, this is very different than dealing with employees and leaders in companies. There's an old statement one of my bosses used to use that said, it's change the person versus change the person. And the concept was, sometimes it was better to change out the person because you can't change the person themselves. Here, I think it's somewhat the opposite.
Chapter 5: What is the importance of practice over equipment?
I could chase the perfect driver for the rest of my life, and I'd be far better off using 10, 20, 60 of those minutes at a driving range trying to work on my swing versus changing the quote-unquote driver. And again, there are differences. I need a game improvement one, one that's easy to hit.
You get past that, a certain weight, a certain type of game improvement driver, the work is probably much more so in changing me versus changing the driver itself. Like the boss used to say, It's easier to change the person than change the person or something like that, meaning it was easier. You can't change someone. You're better off changing the person you're working with.
Here, it's the opposite. You better fix how you're hitting it because the constant search for the better driver is somewhat of one of those illusory dances of trying to find the perfect anything. There is no driver that exists that's going to make me hit it perfectly perfectly.
or that much higher percentage probabilities down the middle and the 220 yards that we want, you know, and calmly, calmly is a big part of this. But again, it's not the driver stupid. It's the name of today's episode. Obviously, this comes out of my frustration, constantly wanting to change drivers.
And this is part of my therapy to avoid myself from going to buy another driver because I'm not hitting it well. Again, I'm in Chicago, so this is inside one of these simulator places versus outside on the actual course. But either way, my immediate impulse is I better buy a new driver, but it's the wrong impulse. This is part of my therapy to save a few hundred dollars.
Thank you for listening to the Becker Private Equity and Business Podcast. Again, at Becker Private Equity, we specialize in business to business webinars, business to business podcasts. If you're ever interested in joining us, it's a sponsored effort, 773-766-5322. Thank you very, very much.
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