Film reference coming up!

 In the 1999 film, The Matrix we are introduced to a character called The Oracle. The Oracle knew everything, could see everything and had the answer to everything.

Can you imagine having that power as a coach?

How good would that be?

At times in my coaching career I have felt that people wanted me to be the Oracle of cricket coaching, they wanted me to come up with the magic answer for their particular problem and wanted a quick solution from their go-to man.

The environments where this can happen tend to be isolated or cut off from the rest of the world a little. I call these "bubbles".

The Isle of Wight, where I grew up, was an example of a bubble. It’s possible for someone to position themselves as The Oracle there as the four mile stretch of water that separates mainland England from the north coast of the island could keep away different coaching views or insights that may challenge the main man’s opinions or methods.

The England Cricket Team was a bit of a bubble too. You travel around the world as a collective and very much live in a bubble. There were weeks that went by where I had not got a clue what was happening in the rest of the world as you are so fixed on winning games of cricket in Tests, ODIs, T20s and World Cups.

As a coach in that bubble environment, you are expected to have all the answers for your respective area of specialism. If you don’t then you will be letting the players down, the countries supporters down and become a target for criticism in the media.

With these pressures, it’s easy to be positioned as The Oracle of your area.

This week, I have spent time with a coach who told me:

“It’s OK to not know everything, as nobody does. When I work with a set of bowlers I tell them that I won’t spot everything, I will unintentionally miss things but the things I miss may be picked up by you or one of your bowling group team mates. Between us all, we will spot most things and have the answers for most questions. If we don’t know there and then, then we can ask others or do some research to find out. To become more informed. To make better decisions”

It was such a powerful few lines that I had to write it down as I was worried that I wouldn’t remember it in the future. It was such a simple message.

It was Anti-Oracle coaching at its very best. It is effectively, real life.

Many coaches are positioned as The Oracle by the people who work in their teams or organisations. Some coaches want to position themselves as The Oracle as it makes them feel good and fits in with their ego-state position.

Whilst one could be said to be more selfish and conceited as an approach, both positions are unhealthy in my view. They often limit the development of the people working under that coach.

The development of that coach is also limited. They are placed in a position where their opinions are all that matters. In reality, there is always more than one way to achieve success in any given field.

Whilst the notion of knowing everything about coaching may seem amazing, the most effective coaches that I know have a thirst to know more, look in different places to see if they can look at problems through a different lens, find a solution, and have bundle of humility.

If you find yourself being positioned as The Oracle within your cricketing bubble then find a way to introduce some different voices and views into the melting pot. It will help you as a coach and your players immeasurably.

Who was the guy who “doesn’t know everything” as a bowling coach I hear you ask?

Well he got 405 Test Wickets.

His name is Sir Curtly Ambrose. A absolute legend of a man.