"Consistently Less Stupid"

All opinions expressed in the blog are my own. The blog is not an official publication of any City of Melrose organization. 

Readers beware. "First, people who achieve outstanding success in one sphere are often emboldened to make broad pronouncements in another. Second, listeners find these forecasts incredibly seductive." - Barry Ritholtz in "How Not to Invest" Barry calls this "Halo Effect." 

Make your own strategic decisions. Advice, whether from Tarot, social media, and blogs...is often mediocre...or worse. 

"“It’s remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent.”" - Charlie Munger, former Warren Buffett Partner

Volleyball sums to scoring positive points (points won plus opponents' 'giveaways') plus negative points (opponent points won and "our team's" giveaways).

Volleyball Success "control what you can control:"

• Win more points.
• Make fewer errors
• Contain opponents' points won (think blocks and saves)
• More opponent errors (uncontrollable)

If you've had success in a tournament, think about and write down why. And also write down where you could improve next time...and work on that. 

Points Surrendered

• Decision-making (not every ball is attackable, keep "get me over" balls in play)
• Bad execution (bad serves, mis-hits and shanks, communication)
• "Room for improvement" (e.g. closing the block, reading attacks)

Great Artists Steal

1) Be on the lookout for better ways and 2) steal other people's stuff. Use Barry Ritholtz's categories from "How Not To Invest."

1. Bad Ideas

2. Bad Numbers

3. Bad Behavior

4. Good Advice 

Bad Ideas

Among the hardest serves to return are those served to the sideline. The downside is obvious - serving out of bounds. A close second with some exception is serving to the ten foot line. That reminds me of the 8th grade "Shop" teacher's line, "Easy if you know it, hard if you don't." Balance reward and risk. Serve to seams and to weak defenders. 

Bad Numbers

Calculate efficiency as (Success - Failure)/Attempts. If as a team you have low efficiency at whatever (opposite attack, setter dumps, pipe attacks) - do less. "Do more of what works and less of what doesn't." Track data and use it to be better. 

Bad Behavior

Behavior often means choice. Choose to communicate, to cover, to align and serve properly. Campfires, service time or service line violations, and rotation errors all belong in bad behavior. Habitually behave well. 

Other "character-based" forms of bad behavior include substance abuse, laziness, selfishness, and softness (lack of toughness). Nike says, "Just Do It." Your better angel says, "Don't do it." 

Good Advice

More on this in another piece. Recapping, stay simple - make more good plays, fewer bad plays, be a great teammate, and avoid self-destructive thoughts and choices. 

Lagniappe. Leadership --> Relationships --> Value --> via Discipline (Leaders serve.)

Saban on Leadership.

“Leadership is about helping somebody else for their benefit, not yours.” - Nick Saban

True leadership isn’t about power.

It’s about lifting others up and putting the team first.pic.twitter.com/sfvtGRqElI

— Greg Berge (@GregBerge) February 9, 2026