I spent the day yesterday in the “bubble” at Cleveland State University with our USA Softball High Performance Program. Being on campus always feels like home, but it was a somber homecoming this weekend. I want to express my extreme disappointment and sadness for everyone associated with CSU Softball, especially those who played for me, after the announcement that they were cutting the program.
The university opted into the new NIL deal and now needs to pay the NCAA a couple of mil the “pool”. To do so, they decided to cut softball (which is coming off a Horizon League Championship) wrestling and women’s golf. It’s a sign of the new landscape that is college athletics. It’s scary and sad.
As I watched the high school-aged kids play yesterday, I thought about all the lessons learned in that bubble since we first put it up in my last season on campus. For almost two decades, CSU athletes have succeeded and failed in this cold practice facility. Some practices felt good. Some, not so much. Such is the life of a college athlete.
But good or bad, there is always a lesson to be learned. As I talked to a high school team yesterday briefly about the mental game, their coach mentioned bouncing back from mistakes. He said, “You don’t have a time machine to go back and change things.” I immediately thought of Michael J. Fox meeting his mother in Back to the Future and how uncomfortable that was 😊.
After that thought floated through, I quickly added that it’s a good thing we don’t have the likes of a DeLorean, who wants to watch their parents date? But back to real life, if we did, we’d spend SO MUCH TIME going back that we would miss so much of what’s to come…or what’s happening NOW!
Our brain loves to rehash the past…and normally not the good stuff. To combat this tendency, we need a system to help us learn from what happened and lean into what we need to do to be our best in our next opportunity.
A simple way to do this is the Well-Better-How system. I am sure you’ve heard of this, but stick around for a few twists on how to use it.
What did we do well? What can we do better? How are we going to do it?
Simple.
I am sure you’ve heard of this but stick around for a few twists on how to use it.
Why is this simple tool so effective in improving performance?
First, it forces us to look at what is working. So often, when things don’t go our way, we want to throw the baby out with the bathwater, as my great-grandpa used to say. If we get undesirable results, we think we need to change everything or make a huge adjustment. Determining what is going well helps us parse out what we need to keep and what we can shed!
Remember the research I shared several Tips back that found that those who review what they need to do differently AND what they did well perform 23% better than those who only look at what went wrong?
Let’s stick with talking about what went well. We tend to first focus on where we screwed up – our negativity bias at work. We need to be safe and screwing up opens us up to scrutiny and discomfort.
So, forcing ourselves to start with what went well is a mental shift.
But we can’t stop there. We must also ask why things went well. What made what is going well go well? What DID WE DO? HOW DID WE BEHAVE?
Behave sounds like such a weird word to use in this question, but our performance depends on our behaviors…actually, performance is a behavior! How we perform is directly tied to the observable actions and choices we make…that influence outcomes!
So, what DID WE DO? Like, “Our transition defense was on point tonight. Why? Because we communicated early and hustled back every time.”
Understanding what we are doing well allows us to repeat it…and helps us trust our decisions, enhances consistency, builds comfort and both of these increase confidence!
THEN…we need to ask every person on the team…as an individual…WHAT DID YOU CONTRIBUTE TO WHAT IS GOING WELL?
This may seem like a redundant question, but I learned early in my career that if you do not directly ask each individual or direct specific statements to the person for which the comments were intended, people think you are talking to someone else!
What did YOU contribute? This question does TWO THINGS. It makes each individual aware of how their behaviors affect outcomes OR NOT! They now know their actions matter OR they realize they are not contributing at all…and need to step it up! Someone may offer, “I called out the pick and that allowed us to stay on our man.” Or, someone may realize they aren’t communicating enough from their position!
If we don’t acknowledge our contributions and their effects, we may change our behaviors and these changes, even subtle changes, may change outcomes…and what went well may not go well anymore!
What you are doing matters to what’s going well. So, we need you to keep doing it! But if we don’t assess why things are going well, we won’t consider how what we do makes things work!
Even though we are really good at pointing out our shortcomings, deciding where we need to improve is vital to enhancing performance. A simple EVALUATION (not judgment) of “What can we do better?” encourages constructive feedback without assigning blame. It frames setbacks as opportunities.
If we can get to “We struggled to execute our plays under pressure. How can we prepare for that in the future?” we are now asking questions that force our brains to look for solutions instead of excuses!
Finally, we go back to Dr. Zeigler’s “BY DOING WHAT?” question! We’ve decided what we need to do. Now it’s time to commit to changing our behavior!
“How are we going to do what we need to do to get better?” It’s time to get specific about the next steps and assign ownership where appropriate. What behaviors do we need to change? What steps do we need to take? What does it look like, feel like, sound like and live like?
Here’s a simple example. “We’ll dedicate 10 minutes of practice each day to high-pressure simulations. During these 10 minutes, we will focus on efficient passing, high-paced decision making and __________ to ensure we can run our defense at top speed with control. Let’s also pair up for mental rehearsal drills to run through our specific assignments before our next game.”
Now we get to decide how we are going to contribute to getting better, too! BECAUSE OUR BEHAVIORS MATTER!
When we use the Well-Better-How tool consistently, we are doing more than just improving our performance, we are transforming the mindset of our teams. By identifying and replicating what’s working, we build confidence and momentum. By addressing areas for improvement with actionable plans, we create a culture of accountability and growth.
Most importantly, this balanced reflection fosters a sense of ownership, trust, and cohesion.
Individuals begin to see themselves as active contributors to the team’s success, which fuels both individual and collective excellence.
So, whether you’re leading a team on the field or in the boardroom, make time for Well-Better-
How. It’s a simple habit that delivers profound results.
Manage the moments!
Julie
P.S. It’s not too late to start improving your mental game. Let’s build a plan and help your team design their Mental Performance Operating Systems and improve their performance! Contact me to find out how!
Send me a text at 234-206-0946 or an email at juliej@ssbperformance.com and schedule a call to see how we can enhance your program’s mental approach!
Julie Jones
Mental Performance Coach
SSB Performance
juliej@ssbperformance.com • 234-206-0946
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