Keeping Secrets
The idea of ‘secrets’ is a funny thing. I’m not talking about secrets in a personal sense but in a work related sense. Our tactics, our approaches, our tools and knowledge. Our so-called secret sauce that ‘helps’ us achieve our professional goals.
We tend to hold these secrets dearly, with the idea that they are indeed unique to how we operate and what we do. And then the idea that if they were to get out, then our ability to achieve is doomed.
So we hold back - in terms of openness, helpfulness, support, with those we interact with - certainly our corporate competitors but also our peers who may be vying for the same achievements. We’re helpful to a degree, but no more than that, because we need to preserve our secrets.
But that’s almost always a misguided approach.
For 15 years, Michael Jordan worked with a personal performance coach, Tim Grover. Grover’s job was simple: to ensure that the greatest basketball player in history not only remained in peak physical shape but continued to improve year over year so that he could stay at the top and keep winning.
Easy peasy.
Grover worked hard to understand Jordan, where he was at, his goals, how he played, how he moved, how much he moved, which way he moved, etc., in order to create plans that were fit for purpose. As Grover himself has said, there was nothing special or secret in what they did together. It was deep study, thorough analysis, constant feedback and plenty of hard work. Day after day after day.
During their time together, Jordan introduced Grover to other great players, both his Bulls teammates as well as his competitors. And subsequently, Grover has built a successful career working with the biggest and best athletes in the game. (If you’ve seen the ESPN documentary, The Last Dance, you’ll have seen Grover speak to Jordan’s discipline and work ethic.)
Now, in a conventional sense, one might consider Grover to be Jordan’s ‘secret’ - part of the special sauce that propelled him to the exalted levels he achieved. And, after all, life at at that level was competitive, it was cut throat, where every man (and woman) had to look out for themselves alone and, where they could, take away from their competitor. So sharing such a tangible ingredient such as Grover with the competition was surely a foolish thing to do.
Except that it wasn’t. In a very pure sense, it didn’t matter.
The thing that the highest achievers realize is that there are no - or at least very few - secrets. And the ones that are there get figured out soon enough by everyone else. (When Arsene Wenger took over at Arsenal, he changed the way players ate, drank and practiced. His philosophies and approaches were novel and innovative at the time but within a year or two, everyone else in the league was doing the same. It raised everyone’s level.)
What there is, though, is application and graft. Consistent hard work, day after day. Of course, the knowledge is essential, but it isn’t enough. Nowhere near.
We’re in an era when data and information and knowledge is limitless - including personalized insight into ourselves. For little to no investment, you can get detailed and granular insight not only into what you’re doing in your craft but what are considered to be best practices and cutting edge ideas to move your work forward. It’s a hygiene factor, to some extent.
The real competitive advantage lies with those who do the work needed to convert those insights into action. The effort has always been where the real differentiation lies. Frankly, those who have average knowledge but superior application will almost always outpace those with great knowledge and poor application. That’s just a fact.
So the emphasis on secrets is, at least in my view, disproportionate and misguided. If we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll see that it’s borne of a lack of confidence, a doubt we have in our own ability to succeed - that then requires others to not be at their best. Because we want every advantage to ourselves even if that means that means we’re not testing ourselves fully in the heat of the battle. In fact, all the better if we’re not. We want the easy wins.
But the greatest have always pushed themselves. They’ve always wanted to win on their terms and be seen that way. They didn’t delight in the absence of key competitors, in a less than optimal opponent. They want to play and beat the best.
Maybe we don’t aspire to those levels though. Maybe doing something great is something others do. Maybe we want our wins easily. OK, sure, those are choices you get to make. In which case, though, let’s also be clear as to the value of secrets and why they matter to us.
No secrets. Just consistent application.
