⏳ Read Time: 4.5 min

🧭 What's in this newsletter?

 🌀The Big Idea: Rethinking roles, structures, and assumptions in leadership.
🏟️ Anecdote: A look at how rethinking structure can drive adaptive success.
📚 Research Insight: Why adaptive organizations thrive and how fixed systems fail.
🛠️ 5 Practical Takeaways: How to lead a team built for change without losing who you are.

📍The Idea: Challenging Assumptions

Pick a sport.

Every time someone establishes dominance, the copycats come running.

Saban. Auriemma. Phil Jackson. Belichick. Sir Alex Ferguson.

Watch what happens next: Everyone scrambles to mimic their success—using the same schemes, language, and leadership models.

But here’s the secret no one tells you: the next great leader never wins by imitation. They win by reinvention.

Think Mike Leach. Dawn Staley. Gregg Popovich. Pep Guardiola.

They didn’t perfect the old system—they scrapped it. They built new structures, rethought recruiting, and redefined leadership—and that’s why they surged ahead.

What about you?

The NCAA House Settlement didn’t just shake up Division I — it signaled the collapse of conventional norms at every level of sports.

And right now — May to July — is your one shot to step back and rethink how your team, department, or program operates.

The best coaches we know are asking the right question:
“What should I be thinking about right now?”

Here’s our answer:
Challenge everything — your organization, your decision structures, how you’re recruiting, how you’re developing.

The systems you inherited may not be the systems your athletes need now.

You don’t need to hustle harder.
You need to think smarter.
And that starts with challenging assumptions.

🏟️ Anecdote: Mike Leach’s Playbook That Wasn’t

Mike Leach is known for a lot of things, including his thoughts on coffee.

But, Mike Leach didn’t just tweak football. He rewrote it.

His infamous “Air Raid” offense had four core plays. That’s it. Four.

And while it’s easy to identify the tactical innovations, the tactics were simply a signal of an even larger philosophical assumption that he was questioning.

Instead of endlessly adding complexity, Leach focused on repetition, simplicity, and trust in players to make reads in real time. He challenged the assumption that more control equals better outcomes.

For instance, former Washington State quarterback Connor Halliday shared insights into Leach's approach:

It’s a line that should haunt anyone in a leadership position.

The challenge ahead for athletic departments, coaches, and sports leaders isn’t just what plays to call—it’s whether the entire organization or philosophy needs to be challenged.

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📊 Research Insight: Adaptive Systems Beat Rigid Ones

Organizational psychology has long confirmed what sports organizations are now learning in real-time: the most successful systems are not the most hierarchical or traditional—they’re the most adaptive.

The article “Adaptability: The New Competitive Advantage” by Martin Reeves and Mike Deimler has become a highly influential piece of research. It explores how organizations can thrive in uncertain environments by fostering adaptability.

Traditional strategies focusing solely on efficiency are insufficient in today's volatile business landscape. Instead, they emphasize the importance of learning and adapting quickly, suggesting that organizations should develop capabilities to sense changes and respond effectively.

That’s a terrifying concept for traditional systems, programs, and teams.

But it’s also the way forward.

If your athletic department, team, or organization will navigate the next five years successfully, you must be willing to question the playbook that everyone else is following.

🛠️ Putting It All Together:

Five Ways Individual Leaders Can Challenge Assumptions

1. Reassess What "My Role" Really Means
   Ask yourself: Am I holding onto responsibilities or routines just because they’ve always been mine? The next era of leadership might require you to shed legacy habits and redefine your own contribution. Be willing to redraw your boundaries.

2. Let Go of the Idea That You Must Have the Answer
   You don't need to be the smartest person in the room—you need to be the most curious. Leadership in this moment is less about answers and more about asking better questions. Try, "What would it look like to approach this completely differently?"

3. Hold a Personal Assumption Audit
   Choose three things you believe about how leadership or teams "should" work. Now, interrogate each. Where did this belief come from? Is it still true in today's context? Is it helping or limiting your growth? Make room for new assumptions to take root.

4. Shrink Your Playbook Before You Expand It
   In a time of change, simplicity often wins. Identify one area where you can remove layers, speed up decisions, or streamline communication. Replacing complexity with clarity will make you a more adaptive leader.

5. Model Adaptability, Not Just Talk About It
   Your team takes cues from how you respond to uncertainty. Start sharing when you've changed your mind, updated a process, or adapted your thinking. When others see you as someone who flexes without losing focus, they'll feel safer doing the same.

🧠 Closing Thought

The landscape is shifting. What made us successful yesterday might hold us back tomorrow. True leadership right now isn’t about having all the answers—it’s about having the courage to ask better questions.

You don’t need to burn down your program. But you may need to rebuild the walls with more windows, fewer doors, and stronger foundations.

The leaders who will thrive in the new era of athletics won’t be the ones who control the most. They’ll be the ones who adapt the fastest—and stay the most accountable while doing it.

You ready?

👇 What assumption are you challenging this summer? [Hit reply and tell us—we actually read them.]

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