Tuesday, January 20, 2009
When 'no means yes: learning from mistakes
My dad will probably not like me telling this story, but a few years ago, when I lived in the Czech Republic, I was lucky enough to have my parents visit numerous times and mooch off me. I was quite thankful for the cheap cost of living in the Czech Republic, especially after the first time I went out to eat with my dad there. We went to a local pizzeria in the small town of Podebrady. Before dinner, everything went fine as far as ordering in a language neither of us understood much of. We did some pointing and put two fingers up for pivo: beer. We were doing great. After dinner, I wanted a dessert, I pointed and all was good. My dad then said, "Coffee." The waitress said, "'No". And so my dad quickly looked at the menu again and said, "Fine, tea." She looked funny at him and again said: 'no. He was quite confused, but he kept trying.
"This?"
"'No."
"That?"
"'No."
Maybe I exaggerate, but after a few minutes, she came back with my dessert and, for my dad.....about ten drinks and desserts. My dad will claim it was all my fault, because I had learned, just that same week, that in the Czech language, 'no means yes. (Actually, so that my Czech friends do not gang up on me, the full form of yes is ano, but people like to shorten it and say, 'no). Since I never miss an opportunity to laugh at my father's expense, I stayed quiet even though I realized that the waitress was saying yes over and over to everything my dad ordered. She no doubt wondered what the heck he was doing, but she knew it was good business. In the end, the joke was on me, however: instead of sending back the extra drinks and desserts, my dad drank and ate everything! And then handed me the check. We both learned a lesson that day: I had fun and my dad got a free dinner. And thanks to the experience, the concept of 'no meaning yes stuck in our minds strongly enough that we didn't make that mistake again.
My current team, Artland Dragons, has struggled a little bit this season. We started out 1-3 in the Eurocup and pretty much everyone counted us out. Our team corrected some of our earlier mistakes and were able to turn things around. To make it to the Last 16, we have just beat FMP Belgrade, a team that had defeated us earlier in the year, but I was amazed at the bunch of young players on their team that acted like were already battle-tested. That is a testament to the strong youth programs in Serbia that give these guys such confidence at a young age. They get the necessary on-court experience that some players do not get until later in their careers. Which is no excuse for how far behind they make me feel as a 27-year-old, just scared at how good some of those guys might be in the next years.
For me, I truly felt like I was learning the most my rookie season in the Czech Republic with Nymburk, getting thrown out on the court with grown men and learning from my mistakes. Of course, that team would probably would have preferred that I had learned from mistakes on my previous teams, but…those are the pitfalls of taking a rookie!!! (Thanks again for everything Nymburk, great place and organization) And yes, I still make mistakes, or miss shots - lots of them - but that is part of basketball. Being able to make those mistakes personally, knowing what works and what doesn't work, was much more beneficial to me than watching it or hearing a coach tell me what could happen if I took this shot or made this move or threw this pass in a certain situation. It would be nice if our team was like Montepaschi Siena and already had figured out how to minimize mistakes to a point where we can just win every night. But our team has needed some more time to experience what works and doesn't work for us as a team. It sounds so simple: experience mistakes, learn from them, get better; but it is harder said than done.
Our basketball team had to suffer some tough losses before we started to figure things out. we still have a ways to go. Failing and learning is not always as fun as it was for my dad and I in the restaurant, but failing and then later succeeding after having learned from an earlier situation, feels great. In that way, I am very excited for the next round of the Eurocup.
POSTED BY
ADAM HESS - GERMANY