Motivational Speech
My biggest problem with American culture is the concept of "the locker room speech that wins the game". I don't doubt that people get down and can use encouragement. A little validation can go a long way, and mistreatment breeds dysfunction. If you treat a winner like a loser, expect to see some losing. I get all of that (sparing you the painful personal history). My problem is with the absurdist version of the story: the mythical team that is filled with execution issues, poor teamwork, low degree of individual skill, and an enemy with both superior skill and a history of success. In this story, it is one stirring talk from the tough-but-beloved coach that turns the team around. They charge the field and play like a commando team, each overcoming all personal skill issues and all of them meshing into a perfect winning machine. In the real world, it is unlikely that the problems a technical team faces are motivational in nature. Maybe a team is struggling with ...