A month into picking up a tennis racket for the first time, I played with a friend who was/is an accomplished tennis player. He was amused at my constant attempts at increasing the power behind my shots. I never managed to get the ball past him, of course.
When we finished, he spoke about a Sampras-Agassi classic he’d watched as a kid. Sampras hit more winners and still lost the game as he had made many more unforced errors than Agassi had. As a young Sampras fan, he was devastated. But his coach made sure he learnt an important lesson – winning games is often about avoiding unforced errors rather than hitting winners. His advice to me was to focus on landing my shots close to the base line and not worry about power. When I finally went to an accomplished tennis coach, he said the same.
It’s advice that I remember every time I go out to play tennis. This weekend was no different. The focus when hitting a shot was just to keep it in. Nothing fancy. Just avoid basic mistakes.
I have come to realize that this is probably the most important characteristic of a learner. Every time you are in a new situation or are starting afresh, all you need to focus on is to avoid basic unforced errors. Whether you are an analyst in a large company or a trainee in a graduate program, your focus ought to be on creating a 0 error game. No fancy winners required. That stuff comes later. (And sometimes, even at the highest level, you are defined by the unforced errors in your game, as the Sampras-Agassi example shows)
To use a bowling analogy, your first objective has to be to avoid bowling into the gutter. You then move onto attempting to “close frames” i.e. make sure you get spares. You then move onto making sure you get the occasional strikes. Then you focus on eliminating “open frames” altogether. And, finally, you focus on eliminating spares and only bowling strikes. That’s how international bowling champions become champions.
You can’t skip steps. The sooner you’re willing to embrace this curve, the quicker you will learn. So, if you’re asked to carry coffee often on your internship, just focus on never dropping any.. that’s how the best make it – by eliminating basic unforced errors.
A Learning a Day 