Work Ethic vs Want Ethic
Everybody wants something. We all have wants. What do you want? What do you want to be? What do you want your team to look like? What kind of coach do you want to be? What kind of person do you want to be? What kind of father or mother do you want to be? What kind of husband or wife do you want to be?
I have heard players and coaches include lots of different things after the words "I want..." We all want to be better than we are. We want to be stronger, smarter, more athletic, more talented. We want more playing time; we want more opportunities. We want more wins and we want more players who are committed to team goals.
We all have wants, and that is fine. But simply wanting something is not what gets results. I once heard Tim Kight of Focus 3 say, "What does the life you WANT require of you?" What his question implies is, if you want something badly, then your want and desire ought to energize you to do the work required to produce the essence of your want.
Too often, however, too many people only get as far as having the want. Too many people have the want but not the work. And without the work, all you will end up with is a lifetime of wanting... or eventually wondering "what could've been."
Have you ever attended a workshop? A workshop is built around the concept of bringing people to a common place and then presenting helpful ideas that everyone can take back and implement with their team, business, or school. Workshops are, by nature and namesake, meant to send us home with things to "work" on, and as a result of our work, we get better.
I've attended many workshops, but I have never heard of anyone who has ever attended a wantshop. I suppose a "wantshop" would be a seminar where we gather a bunch of folks into a room, and then everyone thinks really hard about all the great things they'd like to have going on in their life, or with their team or their business.
Do you think there could be a market for "wantshops?" We'd bring in teams of coaches and players and have them all think really hard about what they want the team to perform like and accomplish.
That sure sounds like an absurd idea, but it is more real than you might realize. So many people want to be great, but the work they actually put in does not match their desire. So many people talk about what they are planning to accomplish, but their life and their actions and their behaviors and their daily habits do not align with their words and their wants.
I've heard kids (and coaches) talk about how they really want their team to succeed this season, and they talk about all the "potential" they have. But if you asked them what they are doing right now, in the off-season, to actualize that "want," many of the answers simply do not align with what it takes to turn their want into reality. They are not going reach the potential they believe they have, and their want will always be just that... a want... because they are not doing the work that is required to create what they want to accomplish.
Now, let me say this... this is not a new problem. If this is true of your kids and your teams, it's not unique and it's not just a "millennial" problem. There have been many people of many generations of old that had a mindset of wanting more for less cost and less commitment.
Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus was a writer for the Roman Empire in 450 AD. His job was to write reports for the Caesar about the current state of the military institutions of the Romans, the legion. He was to report on what they were doing well, why they were being successful or unsuccessful, and provide insight into how they could improve (similar to "State of the Union" addresses).
On one occasion, Vegetius wrote this:
"The name of the legion remains indeed to this day in our armies, but its strength and substance are gone... Another cause of the weakness of our legions is that in them the soldiers find the duty hard, the arms heavy, the rewards distant and the discipline severe. To avoid these inconveniences, the young men enlist in the auxiliaries, where the service is less laborious and they have reason to expect more speedy recompenses."
The title of the passage from which the above paragraph is taken is: "Causes of Decay of the Legion." In that passage, Vegetius is articulating why the Roman military institutions have decayed and become less effective and less powerful. And those reasons are that the young soldiers believe:
the duty to be too hard
the arms to be too heavy
the rewards too distant (not soon enough)
the discipline too severe
Hmm, maybe kids today are not that different after all. Maybe it's not a generational issue. Maybe this isn't just a problem among millennials. Maybe it's not because of the internet. Maybe it's not because of helicopter parents. Maybe it's not the school system.
Consider this. Maybe this is the human condition. Maybe this is just our natural tendency. All of us.
I mean, this was true of the military in Rome in 450 AD – that these people wanted to avoid hard duty, not have to carry heavy arms, get their rewards faster, and avoid significant discipline. And, in order to avoid that, the young soldiers would enlist in auxiliaries, not the primary areas of the army, where the labor just wasn't as hard and they could get faster rewards.
This is the epitome of a "want" ethic vs a "work" ethic. They wanted more instant gratification for less work. Vegetius identified this in the Roman armies and articulated it to the Caesar, saying, "Hey, this is a problem!"
I'll say this, it is certainly possible for this mindset to be more prevalent in one generation and less prevalent in others. Throughout history, in cultures where the "want" ethic was stronger than the "work" ethic, failure and destruction was imminent.
Think about it... this was the beginning of the fall of the Roman Empire.
It was a problem then and it is a problem now; and it will always be a problem... unless we choose to think and behave differently. It is possible to choose a better way.
Here's another observation: "want ethic" is a problem that was, in 450 AD and still is now, persistently rooted in young people. So, in order to remedy the problem, they had to train the young people and show them a more excellent way.
Please take note of this... for all of us who work with young people in any way, shape or form... please understand... THIS IS WHAT YOUNG PEOPLE DO. This is naturally who they are and how they are wired. It is how EVERY young person who has ever been born, naturally thinks...
They don't want to be patient, and wait longer for better rewards.
They don't want more discipline.
They don't want to carry heavier gear.
They don't want harder work.
They all want lighter loads, faster rewards, less discipline, and less work. So, what does this mean for you, COACH??? It means that young people do not need our judgment or our criticism. What they need is our leadership!
They need to be trained. They need to be led. They need to be trusted. And that is how we are going to get them to perform better. Through patience, and providing lots of positive energy, showing them a better way, inspiring them, building relationship with them, loving them, and leading them by example.
These are not new issues. We are not living in some special time in 2017 and dealing with things that the world has never before seen. We are essentially dealing with the same things that everyone who has ever led people, coached people or teams, have dealt with. We are just dealing with it in our time and in our context.
So, coach... quit bemoaning your kids for lacking work ethic. Of course, don't excuse it or permit it to carry on. But just don't be surprised by it. Acknowledge the fact that it is normal; it's actually what comes most natural in the majority of kids. Then, put everything you have into modeling a more excellent way.
There is a WORK that is required to achieve the things we WANT. It's up to us to make sure want and work are aligned. When that happens, you will be creating champions!