A winner or a loser

予定していたことをさぼって、途中まで読んでいた本を二冊読み切った。マイケル・ハマーの「リエンジニアリング」がその一冊で、もう一冊は「ザ・メンタル・ゲーム・オブ・ベースボール」という野球選手のためのメンタル強化本なのだが、打つ投げるの技術本ではなく、技術向上のための精神構造を養成する目的の本なので、誰が読んでも自分の生活に応用できる。これを書いたドーフマンという人は、裏表紙によると、松坂大輔を顧客にもつスコット・ボラス事務所の専属心理カウンセラーと紹介されている。スポーツ選手の代理人というのは、単に交渉をまとめるだけでなく、契約選手のレベルアップも手伝っていることが分かる。300ページを超える本だが、その要点が最後の方にまとめられているので紹介する。英語のままだが、難しい英語ではないと思うので訳さない。本音は、日本語に直すのがめんどい。これらを読むと、個人的にもいろいろ言いたいことや、ぴったり当てはまるエピソードを思いついたりするが、そういうことをここにいちいち書くわけにはいかないので、引用だけにする代わりに、「自分は、これできてない。」とか「これをあいつに読ませてやりたい。でも、馬に念仏だよな。」と思ったものを太字にした。要するに、自分で文章を書かずに、引用だけで済まそうというわけで、今日は手抜き。ハマーの本は、たいへんな話題になったことは知っていたが、今読んでみるとそれほどでもないなという印象だった。

“A SCOREBOARD FOR A WINNER”

• • A Winner takes big risks when he has much to gain. A Loser takes big risks when he has little to gain and much to lose.
  • A Winner focuses. A Loser sprays.
  • A Winner says, “Let's find out!” A Loser says, “Nobody knows!”
  • When a Winner makes a mistake, he says, “I was wrong.” When a Loser makes a mistake, he says, “It wasn't my fault!”
  • A Winner isn't nearly as afraid of losing as the Loser is secretly afraid of winning.
  • The Winner works harder than the Loser and has more time. A Loser is always too busy to do what is necessary.
  • A Winner takes a big problem and separates it into smaller parts, so that is can be more easily manipulated. A Loser takes a lot of little problems and rolls them together until they are unsolvable.
  • A Winner goes through a problem. A Loser goes around it and never gets past it.
  • A Winner makes commitments. A Loser makes promises.
  • A Winner shows he's sorry by making up for it. A Loser says,“Im sorry," but he does the same thing the next time.
  • A Winner knows what to fight for and what to compromise on. A Loser compromises on what he shouldn't and fights for what isn't worthwhile fighting about.
  • A Winner learns from his mistakes. A Loser learns only not to make mistakes by not trying anything differently.
  • A Winner says, “I'm good, but I'm not as good as I ought to be." A Loser says, “I'm not as bad as a lot of other people.”
  • A Winner tries never to hurt people, and does so only rarely. A Loser never wants to hurt people intentionally, but he does so all the time without even knowing it.
  • A Winner listens. A Loser just waits until it's his turn to talk.
  • A Winner would rather be respected than liked, although he would prefer both. A Loser would rather be liked than respected, and is even willing to pay the price of mild contempt for it.
  • A Winner is sensitive to the atmosphere around him. A Loser is sensitive only to his own feelings.
  • A Winner feels strong enough to be gentle. A Loser is never gentle. He's either weak or a petty tyrant by turns.
  • A Winner respects those who are superior to him and tries to learn something from them. A Loser resents those who are superior and tries to find kinks in their armor.
  • A Winner explains, and a Loser explains away.
  • The Winner feels responsible for more than his job. A Loser says, "I only work here!”
  • A Winner says, “There ought to be a better way to do it!” A Loser says, “That's the way it's always been done!”
  • A Winner paces himself. A Loser has only two speeds, hysterical and sluggish.
  • A Winner knows that the verb "to be" must precede the verb "to have." A Loser thinks that enough of the verb "to have" is what makes a verb “to be."

H.A.Dorfman & Karl Kuehl, The Mental Game of Baseball: A Guide to Peak Performance (Lanham, Maryland: Diamond Communications, 2002), 264-265.