Run The Triangle Offense On Your Career
It was a simple plan. Everyone knew what the triangle was. But Jordan & Kobe were still unstoppable when they perfected it.
Let’s start with my ask. I’m hosting a free virtual career coaching workshop on May 9th @ 12pm ET.
If someone you know is in their “Open to Work” era, please share this link directly with them.
https://personalsprints.com/workshop-may
If someone you know repeatedly tells you how they are too busy to eat lunch or use the bathroom due to their overwhelming workload; share it with them and tell them to eat lunch with me. I’ll ask that they not take the laptop into the bathroom though.
If either of these people are you — definitely join me.
Bonus points if you share the link to your own social media as well! Referrals go a long way in my line of work and I’m super grateful for any support you can offer in that department.
If you’re not sure what to say when posting the link, here’s a few options to consider:
Sean is a good egg. You should sign up.
Sean is the dopest of the dope. It’s in your best interest to join his workshop.
Sean has yet to figure out the solution for the 2 party political system. But he has figured out how to help me get out of my own way on multiple occasions, and he will do the same for you.
They say proof is in the pudding. My coworkers now call me Puddin’ thanks to Sean. Sign up for this workshop if you know what’s good for you. (This is either too weird or the start of a fantastic discount code offer: PUDDIN10).
In the process of creating a website for said workshop, I unfortunately remembered how easy it is to fall victim to over complicating things. None of us are immune. Myself included.
My mind dove into all the bells, whistles, and potential pitfalls of a website and sign-up flow. I went down rabbit holes of worst case scenarios and trying to convince every hypothetical naysayer or critic before I even hit publish.
Then I remembered how I spent decades creating, launching, and optimizing this same thing for others’ websites. We didn’t wait for perfect then.
Perfect doesn’t exist. Progress does, and the answers come from making progress.
Did you realize that 97% of the things we worry about don’t play out the way we worry they will? And 95% of our thoughts are repetitive! So we worry about those same useless things over and over! Oof. I’m not violent, but sometimes we might all need a Cher “Moonstruck” moment to “snap out of it.”
Also, basketball!
The NBA Playoffs are here. By my calculations we should have a Champion crowned by Labor Day at the latest. They’re best of 1,000 series for 5 months now, right?
I kid. I do love basketball.
Author/podcaster Brad Stulberg’s recent breakdown of a certain 3 sided shape reminded me of the simplicity and complexity of a triangle that another great was known for.
But first, Brad’s Pyramid.
Top of the Pyramid:
Acute Issues and Challenges: Say managing specific conversations on difficult topics, how to handle big personalities. (ie. What’s driving you crazy? When we focus here we lose the base. This is when people are working 15 hour days and crafting hour long emails)
Middle of the Pyramid
2-5 year goals: Objectives goals; promotions, raises, funding for a project, beat a PR subjective goals: Be more patient, less frazzled, more self aware and less reactive. (These aren’t out of your reach, they just require consistency and intentionality at showing up)
Base of the Pyramid
These are our foundations and practices: physical activity, community, sleep, nutrition, religious or spiritual practices. No matter what happens, these help you show up well.
These are the things that are easy to fail at because we forget they aren’t immediate fixes. Think New Year, New You failures. We focus on physical fitness and nutrition for a couple weeks, remember it’s hard, forget what it gets us towards and end up quitting.
Legendary NBA coach Phil Jackson is essentially synonymous with success in the 3 sided variety. His implementation of the triangle offense with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers in the 1990s and 2000s brought multiple title rings to Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Steve Kerr, Shaq, Kobe, and Pau Gasol.
Even Dennis Rodman, The Worm, was able to win using that simple 3 sided shape. So if you hate rules, and HR is constantly giving you technical fouls; we can still make this work for you.
What’s the point you ask?
Sometimes Jordan got doubled. Sometimes Kobe had zero secondary options. Sometimes the defense reads your telegraphs and you just need to come back at them with the same exact thing.
It’s a simple shape, and has a lot of permutations. The most important part to remember; don’t give up after one failed permutation or get too comfortable with the one that works most often.
So, do I see myself as a Phil Jackson caliber coach? Yes.
I’m 100% confident we don’t need to run trick plays to bring out your Jordan or Kobe greatness. It’s just a case of figuring out the permutations.
Would Phil Jackson be my first choice for a self comparison? Probably not.
I might go with Rudy Tomjonavich. He once got clocked pretty hard in the face as a player when he wasn’t expecting it, then went on to become a phenomenal player’s coach who was instrumental to Hakeem The Dream, Clyde The Glide, and Kenny The Jet (among many other greats) getting their rings.
Or maybe even a Stan Van Gundy type? I’ll grab the leg of a bigger guy and get dragged across the floor if that’s what it takes.
Forgive me for all the basketball analogies and metaphors. My dad was a basketball coach, so this contraption was one of the earliest toys I can remember.
Xs and Os and 5 vs. 5 were my first loves.
🎵 Now Streaming 🎵
I forget which song started this Spotify Recommendations list, but editing this piece has been accompanied by a pretty solid playlist that spans decades and genres. I’ll let you pick whom to start with on your streaming platform of choice.
Ramones
The Specials
Tommy James & The Shondells
Pixies
Del Shannon
The Zombies
The Replacements
The Guess Who