Tennis, game plans and why it's ok to change your mind

One the greatest comebacks I ever saw was the Lendl V McEnroe in the final of the mens French Open Tennis in 1984 (showing my age I grant you).

 

It was classic chalk v cheese. McEnroe's waspish, pointillist genius - classic serve volley tennis, all touch, impossible angles and passion, taking on Lendl's bulldozer - pounding groundstrokes from the back of the court backed up by a thumping serve - all straight lines, repetitive resilience and stoicism.

With deliciously added bite from the fact they couldn't stand each other.

For the first two and a half sets, McEnroe wiped him off the court. Darting little sorties to the net, before putting the ball away at stupefying angles, while Lendl pounded his groundstrokes to no avail, in the hope McEnroe would run out of steam. If you looked at the court, you could see McEnroe's footprints in the blood red clay all over the play, a tapestry of his genius, in comparison with Lendl's churning out the back of the court. And that's how it would have stayed, McEnroe's impish game winning point after point while Lendl glowered in the fierce sun.

But then Lendl starting hitting some precision lobs over McEnroe's head. Immediately, the American got a little more cautious and didn't come in so close to the net, and Lendl got a little more room to hit some rasping shots past his outstretched racket. Just like that, the match changed. It was still close and Lendl didn't actually take the lead until match point in the 5th set, but the change in gameplan proved decisive.

Which is a very long way of saying that while you need a gameplan or a strategy, very few plans survive contact with the enemy. Of course you should stand your ground, but only a fool isn't prepred to change their mind when they are so obviously wrong, or something so obviously better is staring them in the face.

Balls to pride or saving face, the 'biggest' person is the one who has the courage to admit their wrong or agree someone else has a better idea.

So don't stick doggedly to the words on your creative brief when someone suggest something better, or work off brief isn't just great, it's a better strategy. Don't dig you heals in if someone who doesn't have 'planner' in their job title, or from another agency or, a client, has a suggestion that's better thab yours. That's the beauty of digital campaigns by the way, they're really an evolving, real time experiment, flexibility should be baked into your plans from the start.

The job of the planner isn't to DO all the best thinking, it's to make sure the best thinking emerges. A crucial difference that is lost on too many. So leave your ego at home and remember that changing your mind isn't a sign of weakness, it's a source of strength. 

Comments

[Carol L. Weinfeld]

Be open and flexible. Let the best idea win.

@clweinfeld

[Nicole Monk]

Its not necessary to stick i one plan it should diverse and applicable, remember that we need to change course sometime.

Nathan Mclain