Rules Broken Down

Everyone needs rules. Interpretation helps. 

First, from former Secretary of State General Colin Powell, his list of 13 Rules:

Let's explore Rule No. 1, "It ain't as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning." 

Love your losses

"Losses are lessons." Postmortem analysis informs us of where we need to be better. This confirms General Hal Moore's rule, "There is always something more you can do." Some wins reflect triumphs of the spirit. Appreciate even the more pedestrian ones. 

Deep dive 

Track your results. Was the issue scoring or defending? We don't control points clearly won by opponents or gifted by their errors. If the error was not scoring, was it serving, attacking, or blocking? If it were serving, was it an error, location, or pace and movement? 

Categorize problems

Coach Kevin Eastman suggests four possible solutions:

• Do it better.
• Do it harder.
• Change players.
• %$&# it ain't working (change strategy).

Sleep on it

Abraham Lincoln wrote "Hot letters" to generals or politicians whose actions frustrated him. At the bottom he wrote, "Never signed, never sent" and filed them. Emotion can cloud our judgment. "Hold fire" to let cooler heads prevail. Or as James Kerr wrote in Legacy, "Keep a blue head." 

Thinking: Fast and Slow

Behavioral economist Danny Kahneman wrote Thinking: Fast and Slow. People have a rapid response thinking system to avoid immediate danger...so called "System 1" or "reflexive" thinking. And we have a deliberate process, "System 2" or "reflective" thinking. It's often better in the morning after we think about the problem. 

Powell's Rules followed a lifetime of experience across many domains. He served as an Army General, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, National Security Advisor, and Secretary of State. Good leaders multiply experience as they surround themselves with great people. 

Create your own rules and share the best ones. 

Lagniappe. Coaches help you explore outside the comfort zone. 

Tom Brady: “You need coaches that push you outside your comfort zone because that’s how you grow and that’s how you develop self confidence and self esteem. They push you to deal with failure.” pic.twitter.com/yGwDhNbzaa

— Vala Afshar (@ValaAfshar) April 19, 2026

Lagniappe 2. Another in the series of "women being seen and heard." Kara Lawson says that it's not going to get easier.