Lesson #9: One system doesn't apply to everyone

When I was in my senior year of high school, I took a class known as college-leveled English class. Though it was a struggle at first, I soon mastered writing essays in that class, and by the end of the year, I got to a point where I had expected to get an "A" or something close. When I got to college, I had the feeling that I could write at a college level. Therefore, when I had to write my first essay, which was a history paper, I expected to have little difficulties with it. When I got the paper back, I found out that I had done horribly.

Writing encompasses a wide variety of types. How I wrote in my English class, which involved a lot of analysis, interpretation, and thought, was different then how I had to write in my History class, which required me more to say what was there, and not really think, but state. Even though I had excelled at essays in my English class, I had become so accustomed to writing a certain way, that when it was time to write a history paper, I faltered. I felt a bit down after receiving my grade (which led to the birth of lesson #8), but it taught me that just because I struggled with a history paper, I wasn't necessarily a bad writer. It was just that the system wasn't something I was used to.

In sports we here it all the time: Player A has the speed to play in the West Coast Offense or This guy really has the versatility to fit into the Triangle. In sports, part of how successful a player is is how much skill he has, but it's also about how well he fits into the system. You could be a 7'0, 300 lb center in the NBA and the best player on your team, but if you're coach has an offense that involves a fast paced, then you might be too slow to keep up with everybody else, and thus, you look worse than you really are.

Another example we could point to is in the acting world with Halle Berry. Is Halle Berry a good actress or a bad one? In 2002, she won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Monster's Ball. Therefore, she must be a great actress! However, three years later, she got a Razzie Award for Worst Actress for her role as Catwoman.So she's a horrible actress? I don't really have an opinion as to her acting abilities, but most likely, she's somewhere in between. What made her best one year and worst another year had to do with the system she was in, and in these situations, the system was the role she wast cast.

Think back to a couple posts ago when I talked about how everyone was a genius. Once we find what we're good at, we also need to find a system that really shows how good we can be.