#012 – Nature & Art
Material and workmanship. There is no beauty unadorned and no excellence that would not become barbaric if it were not supported by artifice: this remedies the evil and improves the good. Nature scarcely ever gives us the very best; for that we must have recourse to art. Without this the best of natural dispositions is uncultured, and half is lacking to any excellence if training is absent. Every one has something unpolished without artificial training, and every kind of excellence needs some polish.
One of the first things that came to mind when I read this was all the “Super Teams” that failed. The teams were comprised of some of the best players in their sport (ie. the 2002 France World Cup, 2011 Miami Heat, 1990 Buffalo Bills) that just could not get it completely done. Sure these teams were good and most had a TON of talent. They even had amazing coaching. The problem was no one could paint a championship painting with them. What I mean is all the vibrant colors were there, the skillful painter was there, but in the end, there was no masterpiece. All the talent in the world means nothing if you can not bring it all together and create. In the youth sports world, we often see players jumping teams to try and “better themselves”. Talent is part of the equation, but going beyond managing the talent is required. If you want to be a successful coach, you have to create art and teach.
This blog series is based on the book “The Art of Worldly Wisdom” by Balthasar Gracián. This book was written for advice on how to achieve personal and professional success. The goal of this blog series is to visit the points of wisdom and put them in the spotlight of the coaching and education lens.
