risk the shot
This course is a chance to think
A chance to discover and generate links – between the philosophy of one discipline and the philosophy of another
In this case between the philosophy of sport and the philosophy of management and leadership
Between people and their ideas
You get to build a bridge
Not just a philosophical bridge
You are not just tinkering around with philosophy through argument and discussion
Pure philosophical dreaming
There is a practical element to this
This is where philosophical dreaming becomes philosophical doing
You will walk that bridge
And at some point in the future bring others across with you
Make sure it’s solid.
……
My approach to this is to always go beyond the content
Beyond mastery
Beyond the pursuit of excellence in a specific domain
This is a chance to make it your own
This is a chance to put your own stamp on it
Become the new creator
The one who brings something unique to the table
This is also a chance for you to embody your own ideas
Become the living breathing example
The exemplar
……
And as weird as that may sound there is a link from it to sport itself
This transcendence of bodily powers
And that of the mind
Quite often the most amazing moments in sport are the ones where athletes and players are performing beyond the routine-like-necessity-of-mastery
Of a skill or a set of skills
This occurs in life too
They are in this spontaneous and continual flow of unpracticed and uninhibited and impulsive invention
They are creating
Right there
Right in front of you
They play outside of knowledge and expertise and experience
All now delegated to a biological autopilot
And in these moments they are the ones who are willing to risk a shot
They are free
To exist somewhere else.
……
So we have twelve weeks to play with that in mind
Work on the mastery of your discipline
Mastery of knowledge and understanding
But at the same time we want to give you the chance to tap into who you are truly are
Go beyond it
And leverage who you are and how you perceive things in your work and approach
This is a chance to prepare
And to help you push this further than you originally thought
We are going to try and give you time and space
Freedom
And also a sense of safety
So you too
Can risk the shot.
Prompt
I was asked to speak to a large cohort of incoming sport management students as part of their first year orientation.
Image
Toy Handgun | 2023*
Notes
There is often a perception that students just what to know what their assignments are and how they can pass. But I don’t think that always holds true. And it has never really been my style. So this is what I threw out. In the hope this cohort were chasing something more. And if not that I could kinda fire them up to do so.
Location | Date
Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus
28 | 02 | 2023
Publication Date (Self Published)
17 | 11 | 2023
*
The toy handgun is a reference to Orwell’s, “war minus the shooting” (from ‘The Sporting Spirit’, 1945) and I reference it again in another piece I shared with this cohort early on in the semester titled, ‘higher’ .