Years ago, as I was kindly displaced from my office building, an old Victorian mansion in the heart of Denver, the owner of the building thoughtfully presented me with a beautiful wooden pen. He told me that this pen was not only made from wood in the mansion but came with a story. Apparently, the woodworker was originally sent beautiful red oak wood, but it broke every time he attempted to bend it around the interior ink cartridge. Discouraged yet eager to complete the task successfully, he asked for different wood. The owner of the building replied, “I have some cruddy, old pine from a mantel,” to which the pen maker said, “Yes! Please send that.” Striking pens made of pine were returned to him weeks later.
Most of us yearn to be like oak: sturdy, strong, rich in texture and depth and few want to be like pine: cheap, bendable, soft, and imperfect. However, the pen maker explained that these pens and the pine they were constructed from symbolize the value of flexibility and adaptability. The athletes, coaches, and executives I have worked with who are most successful also happen to be the most like pine. They acknowledge mistakes made, examine lessons learned from those experiences, flexibly adapt, and move forward. In sport and in business, the more open you are to adapting (especially when things are just not working), the more success you realize.
Most feel that Tiger Woods has been one of, if not the most, mentally tough professional athletes of our time. What may be overlooked is his adaptability. A total of four times during his prolific career, Tiger Woods completely changed his golf swing. He had the best swing in the game and still felt it could be improved upon. That is flexibility at its finest.
Are you more oak or pine-like? When you are more flexible, how is your performance impacted?