I love when the NFL opens training camp. As a football fan, this is almost as exciting as Christmas! In just a few short weeks the exhibition games start and soon after, the regular season.
On opening day, every team’s choice of head coach seems like a good one. There are no win/loss records to judge them by. Even though some coaches might be on the hot seat, they have job security today. By the end of the season though, it will be a different story. Coaches will be fired and fired coaches rehired. The best coaches will have job security but there are a long list of “retread” coaches who will jump on the coaching carousel.
It seems as though few things are original anymore. The term “retread” comes from those big truck tires you often see shredded on the highway. It’s a cheap way to extend the life of a tire. When a retread wears out though, it’s a pretty messy thing. In the NFL, coaches such as Wade Phillips, Mike Shanahan, and Norv Turner are referred to as retreads. They get hired, fired, and rehired by different teams with predictable regularity. Retreads bring little innovation. Few new ideas.
Essentially, they are just placeholders. It’s a sad thing.
Professionally speaking, how original are you? Do you regularly think about original ways of doing things or do fall into the trap of reinventing something old. In my field, I often run across trainers and consultants that present dated material, tools, and examples that were in vogue back in the early 1990s. There’s something to be said for classic material, but for new audiences, originality is extremely important. Retro may be popular, but its popularity is faddish and short-lived. Our ability to stay current and relevant is key to our being successful.
This week, think about what you do, create, build, or teach. Ask yourself if you’re being original or simply doing a retread of what’s been done previously. If you are, can you at least modify it enough so that the outcome might be relevant? Better yet, how about doing some research and gain some new knowledge. Keep in mind that criticizing an old theory is not bringing new knowledge either. Be original.
I’m going to take a good hard look at my materials, stories, examples, and video clips this week as I have a couple weeks of downtime. Maybe it’s time to remove the retreads and put some new tires on. I’ll let you know what happens!