Selective Abstraction

When I read this passage in
Ric Charlesworth’s book the other night this really struck a nerve with me. “Selective
abstraction is the fault of seeing what we want to see – that which fits our
preconceptions or appetite rather than being an accurate or true reflection of
what is going on. Seeing what is, not just what we want to see, is crucial if
we are going to make good judgments.” (P. 56 Shakespeare the Coach) It caused
me to reflect on how often I have done this. So often we are trapped by our own experience
that we miss the obvious. I know in training I have fallen into the habit of looking
at certain things and ignoring others. I must shift the paradigm and be more
aware of the big picture. One solution to this is to bring in outsiders to
observe and analyze workouts. I am in the process of having someone review all
the Venice volleyball workouts since January 07 to see if have missed anything
or emphasized the wrong thing. I am going to do the same at the Apprentorship
later this month. We are going to study programs and concepts and look at them
with different eyes.