Page 155 - How to Create a Winning Organization

Little Things Make Big Things Happen
showed players how to put them on correctly. Shoes? We didn’t ask 137
players what size they wore. I insisted our trainer measure each
student-athlete’s foot—right and left—to ensure that newly issued
sneakers fit properly. I wanted no slippage. Shoestrings? I sat down
and showed players how to lace and then tie their sneakers correctly
to avoid having them come undone during practice or a game.
Attention to these items—socks, shoes, and shoestrings—could
prevent problems during performance. I applied this same metic-
ulous attention to details in many other areas. For example, the
only real concession I made to preparing for a specific upcoming
opponent was to buy inexpensive cloth vests that were the same
color as the opposing team’s uniform. For Stanford, red vests; for
Cal (University of California, Berkeley), blue vests; for the Wash-
ington Huskies, purple vests.
In practices before the game, our starting players scrimmaged
against teammates who were wearing vests with the color of our next
opponent’s uniform. Did this detail of vests make a difference? Did
wearing the opponent’s “uniform” help prepare our starting team for
what it would see on the court during the next game? I thought it
might make a difference. That’s all the convincing I needed.
Additionally, I insisted that jerseys always be tucked in, because
I felt it helped create a sense of self-identity and unity. It was a
detail that helped teach our players that sloppiness was not
tolerated—in anything. Eliminating sloppiness and creating unity
were very important to me and were effectively instilled by at-
tending to such details.
When I arrived at UCLA, practice uniforms were in poor shape
and players often brought T-shirts from home and wore sneakers
of their own choosing. I stopped that immediately by ordering new
practice uniforms and sneakers. I didn’t want to look out on the
court during practice and a see a rag-tag collection of outfits. Nor
did I want players to look at one another and see sloppiness in the