Wooden's+Pyramid+of+Success

From //**Coach Wooden’s Pyramid of Success**// Cooperation is working with others for the benefit of all. It is not sacrificing for someone else’s benefit. If what you are doing doesn’t help everyone involved, then it is something other than cooperation, perhaps you would call it service or selfishness.

Some individuals, such as writers and scientists, often work alone and accomplish much. But in my opinion, those who primarily work alone will never become all they could become if they were working with others. Working with others makes us much more than we could ever become alone.

Because it was such a formative observation in my youth, I have often told the following story: When I was a young boy, I was at a gravel pit with my father and a young man. They had a team of horses and were attempting to pull a load up a steep road. The young man driving the horses was loud and abusive. In response, the animals were hyper and agitated. They worked against each other and, as a result, couldn’t pull the load. With a gentle voice and a gentler touch, my dad calmed the horses and walked them forward with the load. When the horses cooperated, they could do much more than when they didn’t work together.

I learned two important lessons that day: (1) Gentleness is a better method of getting cooperation than harshness is; (2) A team can accomplish much more when it works together than individuals can when they work alone. I tried to apply both principles when I was a teacher/coach. I believe most of my teams demonstrated the effectiveness of the applications.

My first national championship team (1964) probably operated as a team as much as any team I have ever seen. I’ll never forget the conversation between coaches before our final game against Duke. The Blue Devils had two players who stood 6-foot-10. We didn’t have anyone over 6-foot-5. The general consensus was that UCLA was a fine little team, but Duke was a fine big team. However, a European coach observed, “UCLA will win because they are a team.” I considered that a very nice compliment.

Running our press was the ultimate test of the cooperative spirit. Every player had to cover for somebody else, and they had to trust each other to do that. When applying our press, the team came to expect to make at least two runs each game during which we would score six to eight points in a row. I believe the players collectively looked for whoever was able to help the team most on any given night, rather than always looking to one individual. The abilities of the players served the team, as opposed to the players being used to serve an individual. That’s cooperation.

Ironically, my players that year weren’t that close off the floor. They certainly varied in how much they liked one another. After a game or practice they all went their separate ways, but they were completely loyal to each other on the court. No one tried to be a star. They were each nonassuming and accomplished far more than anyone expected.