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What’s in this week’s newsletter:

• 🎯 Lead Yourself First: A mental model to rethink your approach to success.

• 🤔 Why Inversion Matters: The power of thinking backward to move forward.

• 🛠️ Practical Steps: How to use inversion to avoid failure and achieve your goals.

We had our first call in our freshly launched BETTER Community this past Tuesday.

We’re on track to hit 100 coaches and leaders across high school and college by the end of this week (about two weeks in).

Jump in with us before we deep dive on Mindset for the month of February.

⏮️ The Idea: Inversion

At BETTER, we believe leadership development yields a 10X return when it focuses on getting better rather than just getting smarter.

It’s why we constantly say, “Lead yourself first.”

This week, we’re presenting a problem-solving strategy called Inversion.

It flips the conventional approach to achieving goals on its head.

It’s a strategy that’s been written about by modern thinkers like James Clear and Shane Parrish. It’s also been a core tenet of Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger’s investment strategy. Here’s Charlie describing Inversion as the strategy he uses every day.

How good is that?

Interviewer: “Are there any tools or behaviors you embrace to facilitate rational thinking?”
Munger: “The answer is of course. I hardly do anything else.”

Most people focus solely on “How do I achieve this goal?” But what if you asked the opposite?
“What would lead to my failure?”

If some of the brightest modern thinkers use thinking strategies as the foundation of their work, shouldn’t we follow their lead in seeking to build a team?

🏆 Anecdote: Learning Not to Lose

When a coach takes over a struggling program, their first goal often isn’t winning championships—it’s fixing what’s broken. How many coaches have you heard express something like this:
“We have to learn how not to lose before we can learn how to win.”

It’s a favorite idea of new UNC football coach, Bill Bellichick. Here’s his new GM at UNC (and former NFL GM) Mike Lombardi talking about this.

mlombardinfl

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This is inversion in action. When coaches say this, they’re talking about tactics — the on-the-court/field/course things that happen in a competition that move you towards failure, i.e., turnovers, poor defense…etc. By focusing on eliminating the habits, systems, or attitudes that guarantee failure, coaches set the foundation for future success.

We need to apply this same thinking to building our programs and departments.

🔍 Research Insight: Why Inversion Works

Inversion compels you to view challenges from a fresh perspective. A 2023 study examined the commonly discussed critical thinking strategies applied to everyday life. The study found that inversion thinking—mentally simulating scenarios where solutions are incorrect and working backward—can uncover hidden risks and foster innovative solutions.

By defining what not to do, you simplify decision-making, avoid common traps, and build a more straightforward path toward your goals.

🛠️ Practical Takeaways: How to Use Inversion

1. Define Your Goal: Write your top goal in as much detail as possible. Make it specific and compelling.

2. Imagine Failure: Picture yourself missing the mark entirely. What went wrong? Write down every possible reason for your failure.

3. Spot the Red Flags: Look for patterns or root causes in your list. What habits, decisions, or systems are likely to cause problems?

4. Plan to Avoid Pitfalls: Create a strategy to address these potential issues. Make prevention a priority.

5. Iterate and Reflect: Regularly revisit your list of “failure paths” and adjust your plans as needed.

💡Closing Thought

Inversion shifts your focus from chasing success to avoiding failure—a subtle but powerful change in perspective. You pave the way for what can go right by tackling what could go wrong first.

This week, take a moment to invert your thinking. What’s preventing you from achieving your goals? The answers might be precisely what you need to move forward.

BETTER’s Solution to Coach Development

As a part of our work, we lead cohorts of leaders. It’s just one meeting a month with a topic, some homework, and sharing about how it’s going. But it’s powerful. Many of the coaches and leaders in our cohort express the following sentiment:

“I wish every coach got to experience this on some level.”

So, we thought, why can’t they?

As a part of what’s next for BETTER.

We are launching a community around the Culture Playbook.

Until now, the Culture Playbook has been something you buy and then get. We wanted it to be so good and affordable that every coach in the country could access it.

From now on, leaders will receive the Culture Playbook as part of a guided community led by Kevin and Seth.

If you’ve enjoyed our newsletter, imagine a community where we will take you and others through a deeper level of how to install the systems for yourself, athletes, or other coaches. You can ask us questions directly. We can guide and share discussions, share ideas, and get feedback.

We will host monthly calls, and every coach will have direct access to us. We will lead guided discussions and encourage coaches and ADs to share best practices. We want it to become the absolute best resource for all things Culture Development, both at the program and department levels. Over time, we will continue to add content, resources, and offerings. You’ll get discounts on future products that the public won’t get. And no, the price is not changing.

We’re targeting a public launch in early January, offering newsletter readers early access and a 25% discount. Fill out the form using the link below, and we’ll send you a link to get started.