I recently read a blog by Seth Godin, an American entrepreneur, author and public speaker. In a blog titled Why jazz is more interesting than bowling, Seth discusses dimensions:
“Bowling is all about one number: the final score. And great bowlers come whisker-close to hitting the perfect score regularly. Not enough dimensions for me to be fascinated by, and few people pay money to attend bowling matches.
Jazz is practiced over a thousand or perhaps a million dimensions. It’s non-linear and non-predictable, and most of all, it’s never perfect.
And yet…most of us choose to bowl.”
North American soccer is progressively ameliorating, but it is still too focused on the final score. Rather than developing players and teams with multiple dimensions (dynamic mindsets), we are focused on a trophy or a scoreboard (static mindsets). Soccer is currently too much like bowling.
Like jazz, soccer is naturally and inherintly a game of dimensions. Although there is a final score that is the ultimate goal of each team that plays, the focus needs to be on creativity. The game itself is non-linear and non-predictable. No team is perfect and no player is perfect – but that’s a great thing. Each of us play soccer a different way; each of us is a different instrument. Together, however, we can create a work of art. Do not allow yourself to be another brick in the wall. Develop different dimensions to your game as a player and team. Every time you play, play jazz.