June 11th, 2020 | Sam Thomas Davies

Hi, there.

Welcome to another edition of Words Into Works.

I returned to my coworking space last week. It feels like we’re beginning to return to a sense of normality.

Let’s get into today’s big idea.

Big Idea: Details Create Success

On his first day of practice as a UCLA Bruin, a wide-eyed Bill Walton marched into the locker room, eager to learn from his new coach, John Wooden. [1]

“Men, this is how you put your shoes and socks on,” instructed Wooden, removing his shoes and socks before an audience of bewildered college freshmen.

“We were stunned,” writes Bill Walton in his memoir, Back from the Dead. “We [were] high school All-American players, and here is this silly little old man showing us how to put on our socks and shoes!”

Wooden was far from silly, though. There was, in fact, a very practical reason for his meticulousness.

“Wrinkles, folds, and creases can cause blisters. Blisters interfere with [the player’s] performance during practice and games,” writes Wooden in his eponymously titled memoir. “Since there was a way to reduce blisters, something the player and I could control, it was our responsibility to do it. Otherwise, we would not be doing everything possible to prepare in the best way.” [2]

Throughout his career, John Wooden held his team to impeccable standards, including instructing players on how to lace and tie their shoes and how to shower and properly one’s self.

These standards seemed trivial, even laughable at times. But Wooden knew otherwise. He knew that success and attention to details—even the smallest of details—often went hand in hand, both on and off the court.

No truer is this than in our personal lives.

Pausing before acting on an impulse, such as accosting a colleague over a miscommunication, reveals a space between stimulus and response. Journaling serves to reminds you of the things over which we have control. Investing 10 percent of one’s income ensures long-term economic growth.

Details are seldom notable (or even noticeable) when viewed in isolation. But when taken together and added to many, many other details one by one, over time, they build into something big.



Details create success.

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Notes

[1] Back from The Dead by Bill Walton . [2] Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court by John Wooden

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Until next week,

Sam