Do the simple things better

I recently was listening to a guy on a podcast who previously was an elite special forces type guy in the Marine Corp.  He gave a story about how his elite unit came across a unit of “grunts” out in the field who were having trouble with their radio equipment.  Apparently, the radio guy in the unit was struggling for several hours trying to get the equipment operational out in the field.  The “comms” guy in his elite unit stepped in and fixed the problem in less than a minute.

He shared this story to teach a lesson about success.  He said far too often people mistakenly think that successful people have some sort of special gift(s) that propel them past everyone else.  He said, in reality, successful or “elite” people basically just do the simple things better, more often, and/or more efficiently than others. 

I think the same is true in baseball.  

The teams and players that seem to do well year in and year out don’t really have a magic formula.  They just do the simple things better and more consistently than others.

We might get wowed by a 100 mph fastball or a 450 foot homerun but baseball success over time largely is simply about making the routine play, being where you need to be on the field, throwing strikes, changing speeds, and a boatload of other simple things that many people don’t find too glamorous.

As the next season approaches, focus on the basics and work to do them better than anyone else.