Thoughtful Thursday

This is Steve Nash.

Steve Nash is a two-time NBA MVP. Steve Nash has made six All-Star teams. Steve Nash is one of the greatest point guards of all time.

What I'm trying to say is this: Steve Nash is really good at basketball.

Now, Steve Nash has some other skills that you may not know about. For example, he loves to play soccer and is he is a budding filmmaker.

But let's pretend you are placed in charge of three teams. One team has to win a basketball game, one team has to win a soccer game, and one team has to produce a great movie. Nobody can be on more than one team. Your life depends on these three teams accomplishing their goals.

Next, you are given one Steve Nash; he will do whatever you ask to the best of his ability. The question of the day is this: which team would you put him on?

Would you want Steve Nash to be the point guard of the your basketball team? The playmaker of your soccer team? Or the producer of your film?

I hope the answer is obvious. I'm using this situation to illustrate an important point.

Put your resources where they can make the biggest difference.

Could Steve Nash step into a soccer team and play well? I'm sure he could, but why would you want to make an NBA MVP play soccer? Let the basketball player play basketball.

If you didn't have a basketball team to worry about, then by all means, pencil in Steve Nash into the soccer lineup. But you do have a basketball team to worry about. And your life is depending on this, remember?

In a more abstract sense, an important factor in finding success is making sure that every resource is being used in a way that will yield the most results. One pitfall to avoid is assigning things to certain areas that could perform better in another position. On the other hand, you've also got to make sure not to put things in a position where they won't perform well at all.

Obviously, in the real world there is never a perfect way to allocate all of our resources. Trade-offs and sacrifices will have to be made. But if you find that you are not getting your expected results, ask yourself if there is a better way to apply what you have to the problem at hand.