Set-up The Spike

My kids gave me some tough feedback recently. They told me I don’t explain things carefully enough when I line them out on projects at our ranch. I am a big-picture guy, so I provide them with my vision of what needs to be done. When I ask them, “You got it?” They usually say “Yes” because they don’t want to feel stupid. But when they are done, and I inspect the finished product, it is not what I wanted; there is blame and frustration all around.

The solution to this problem came to me from watching volleyball. You know the process for successfully spiking a ball. The Libero (the player with a different color uniform) bumps the ball close to the net to a setter, who launches the ball high in the air with a more precise touch so the hitter can spike the ball hard and win the point. If the hitter tries to spike a ball sent directly from the Libero, they are often out of position and unsuccessful. The second touch, provided by the setter, puts the ball exactly where it needs to be -- this is the key.

My problem is that I am lacking the second touch. I just bark orders and hurry off to work on another project. Reconnecting with them soon after they have started is the vital step I forget. I recently tried this “second touch” approach with my daughter, who put flooring down in our barn loft. I checked in a few hours after she started, and we made some course corrections, which could have been disastrous for the final product if they had been missed. Her confidence was built, the relationship was enhanced, and, as you can see, she spiked it!