A Masterclass in Strategy at The Edge

The first time he did it, everyone must have thought he was crazy.

Kevin Garnett, at that time rookie in the NBA and would later become one of the most impactful players in the history of the sport, started goaltending shots taken by opponents after the ref’s whistle. In basketball, goaltending refers to blocking a shot from an opponent once the ball has begun its downward trajectory towards the hoop – in regular play this is against the rules and results in immediate points for the other team.

Uncovering Competitive Advantage at The Edge

But if the ref has stopped the game by blowing the whistle due to a foul, the ball going out of bounds, or some other event – the rules are suspended. There are no rules against taking a shot after the whistle has been blown and play stopped to try to get into a rhythm early in the game. And this is exactly what KG saw the best players in the league doing. He realized that these players had found a loop hole in the game that was helping them gain an advantage. He also realized there was space for him to innovate and develop his own strategic advantages here as well.

This is the game that is played at the edge.

Where is The Edge?

The edge is the undefined areas of any pursuit where there is room to strategically and tactically maneuver to gain both short and long term advantage. It may seem like there is nothing happening in these moments, as in the seconds between when the ref blows their whistle to stop the game and when the game resumes, but make no mistake the game is still being played. This is where some of the best performers gain their greatest sustained advantages. In Garnett’s case, he quickly came to the conclusion that if the best players were allowed to take shots after the whistle, he should be allowed to goaltend those shots.

And so, he did.

Keep in mind Garnett was in his rookie season when he started this tactic. This was at a time when the NBA was notorious for young players having to maintain a low profile and pay their dues to the older more established veterans. Capitalizing on this advantage required courage, resilience and confidence from KG.

Garnett was breaking the mold. He was finding a strategic and tactical advantage at the edge of his craft which no one else was capitalizing on. He was gaining both short and long term advantages relative to his peers. In the short term he was preventing his opponents from getting in a rhythm and even pulling some out of their rhythm due to frustration and anger. In the long term, he was establishing himself as a leader for other young players to gravitate towards and older veterans to respect.

Finding Strategic & Tactical Advantages at the Edge

Early in my corporate leadership career, I was insatiably driven to increase my impact as a leader at the fast-growing 300-employee technology company I was working for. I was fortunate enough to have an executive leader who listened to my pleas to do more and threw me head first into The Deep End (another story), assigning me as the leader accountable for the integration of the product and team from a start-up we had just acquired.

After I was able to quiet the initial reaction of fear, anxiety and imposter syndrome, I took a step back to begin building the plan of how I was going to lead this initiative amongst the dozens of other ‘critical’ priorities across senior teams and leaders in the business. As I began leading the effort across multiple teams, I noticed executive leaders across the organization were requesting status updates and inviting me to weekly executive check-ins where I would have 2-3 minutes to provide a status update.

It was after attending a few of these meetings that I noticed an opportunity at the edge.

By connecting the dots between what I was accountable for, the successful integration of startup product and team, and what I believe would be required to do this, executive and functional team support and alignment, I proposed a new format on how we could accomplish this more effectively.

With some feedback and encouragement from my executive mentor, I proposed a 15-minute dedicated weekly standing meeting where I would provide updates on project status, highlights, obstacles and executive action required to hit our target launch dates. I requested the attendance of the CEO and supporting executives as well as whichever teams were involved at the current stage.

The ball was in my court, I was exploring the edge. Knowing the immense value and scarcity of the executive team’s time I ensured  these status updates were 100% dialed in each week. Focused on alignment, showing our work and staying unstucked, starting exactly on time and never running over. By the end of the project, which did end up successfully launching on time, the core executive team and senior leaders were showing up on-time and engaged for every weekly 15-minute check in – I later received feedback that this was one of the most effectively spent 15 minute blocks of these leaders weeks and therefore became a priority to attend when requested.

4 Questions to Help you Level up at The Edge

So what does it look like to start ‘playing at the edge’? Below are a few key reflection questions you can consider in your craft and pursuit.

1. Are you in the Deep End?

If you haven’t reviewed The Deep End Mindset, you can download the free workshop here. In the context of levelling up at the edge – being in The Deep End is critical because it ensure you will have the required commitment and staying power to exploit opportunities at The Edge. As in the example with KG, he was going against the grain and catching a lot of heat for goaltending shots in his early years in the NBA. It wasn’t popular nor was anyone else doing it – it would have required conviction, determination and swagger to decide to execute this tactic. You won’t be able to summon the courage or confidence if you’re not committed to the pursuit at the very core of your being.

2. Are there other world class performers in the space you can study?

If you’re fully committed to your goal, don’t shy away from seeking out and studying those peak performers who have come before you. This is a shortcut to uncovering many of the advantages that have already been identified at the edge – it saves time and error correction. Ultimately you will be able to replicate some tactics that others have found and you will identify and innovate tactics of your own.

3. Where can you gain the greatest strategic advantage relative to your competitors or peers?

This is a strategic thinking question and exercise. You want to evaluate where one unit of your time and energy will have the greatest disproportionate impact both on the success of your pursuit as well as relative to your peers (in any competitive environment – most are). For example, I could have spent my time writing email after email with updates and requests of various team members during my acquisition initiative. This would have been safer and seemingly easier on the surface – but very low value relative to the status quo. By aligning my leadership incentives with the incentives of the organization (a successful product and team integration), I had the leverage to create a new space (15 minute weekly meeting) that become disproportionately more valuable than any email I could send. Here are some clear examples of how this was more valuable:

• I was spending dedicated, guaranteed time with our CEO and Executive Team.
• I was showcasing what an effective 15 minute meeting could look like for our teams.
• I was keeping our project on track with clear lines of accountability between executive teams and working groups.
• I was showing up as a leader to all of my peers, earning respect and trust across the organization.

4. What are your peers not doing because it is hard, uncomfortable or requires going against the grain?

Often times, increasing your performance at the edge does not need to be overly complex – it is not typically rocket science. Instead, look for places that are uncomfortable and require additional courage, conviction and humility. These are the things your peers and competitors are not doing because it is hard, and therefore represent and opportunity for you.

Don’t Sleep on becoming a Master Strategist at The Edge

These strategic and tactical advantages can come in a smallest pockets of your work. I recall my first year as an NCAA Division 1 basketball athlete thinking through the significant number of classes I would miss each semester due to travel. This, combined with the stereotype of being an athlete was a threat to how professors would view and treat me. I realized that despite these potential disadvantages as a student, there was an opportunity.

On the first day of every class I would walk up to my professor, extend my hand and look them in the eye while introducing myself. I communicated proactively that I was an athlete and would unfortunately miss some classes due to travel schedules but I would like to make a plan in partnership with the professor so that I could get the most out of their class. Many of my friends and athletic peers saw this as sucking up, poking fun at me and laughed it off.

Ultimately, along with developing meaningful relationships with many of my professors, I was able to work with them to move my exam schedules, hand in assignments late if needed and was generally extended as much support in whatever capacity possible from my professors.

An act that required less than 60 seconds of my time and had a disproportionate impact on my experience and performance through University relative to my athlete colleagues.

So, in the pursuits in life which you are most passionate – where can you find opportunities at The Edge to develop strategies and tactics which improve your performance and mastery?