Be Quick - But Don't Hurry : Finding Success in the Teachings of a Lifetime [UNABRIDGED]
- Book Review,
by Andrew Hill (Narrator), John Wooden (Introduction)
Amazon.com
John Wooden was named ESPN's Coach of the Century for the way he led his UCLA basketball team to the top of the sporting world in the 1960s and '70s. Andrew Hill was a rebellious and sparingly used reserve on the squad before becoming a successful television executive. While it's doubtful that either would have predicted it at the time, the lessons imparted on the court by Wooden eventually helped Hill reach the top of his profession. And in Be Quick--but Don't Hurry, named for one of the legendary coach's ubiquitous aphorisms, the now-grateful protégé translates that sage advice into 21 "secrets" that may help others realize similar accomplishments. Like the title, the counsel can usually be boiled down into short expressions that are deceptively simple. Examples include "Focus on effort, not winning," "Balance is EVERYTHING," "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail," and "The team with the best players almost always wins." To show their relevance and power, Hill fleshes them out with solid examples from the hardwood as well as the business world. And with the track record Wooden has compiled, who are we not to take them seriously? --Howard Rothman
From Publishers Weekly
When Hill, a television executive, played basketball at UCLA during the 1970s, he became one of only 200 men to play for Wooden, the winningest coach in college basketball history. The two constantly engaged in verbal sparring (e.g., on his first day, Hill suggested that Wooden cancel practice in protest against the Vietnam War, and Wooden retaliated that Hill could choose not to come to practice that day or ever, but only Wooden would decide whether to cancel a practice). Some 20 years later, Hill had an epiphany and began visiting his old coach, developing a deep friendship reminiscent of the one described by Mitch Albom in Tuesdays with Morrie. For Hill, it yielded new revelations based on Wooden's famous "pyramid of success," constructed of precepts such as "keep it simple" and "teamwork is not a preference, it's a necessity." Hill's writing is clean and clear, and his respect and admiration for Wooden are apparent. But as a tribute to a coach, the book will have limited appeal. As a life and business mentoring book, it falls short because the advice isn't particularly insightful or original. Hill neglects to explain to his readers how the principles build upon each other, and the examples focus only on Hill's professional life without discussing other business arenas. Although Wooden's name and the book's price make this an appealing gift, sports fans and business leaders interested in Wooden's "pyramid of success" will benefit more from Brian D. Biro's Beyond Success (Forecasts, Dec. 4). Agents, Christy Fletcher and Chris Silbermann, Carlisle & Co. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Review
Dean Smith Coach Wooden always got the best out of his players and helped them get the best out of themselves. That's the secret of coaching and of leadership. In Be Quick-But Don't Hurry! Andrew Hill shares the lessons that made Wooden's teams so successful on the court and his players such successes in life.
Book Description
Perhaps the least controversial sports honor in living memory was the selection of John Wooden as "Coach of the Century" by ESPN, honoring his ten NCAA basketball championships in twelve years. His UCLA teams won with quickness and always with class. Wooden was a teacher first and foremost, and his lessons -- taught on the basketball court, but applicable throughout one's life -- are summarized in his famed Pyramid of Success. An all-city high school player in Los Angeles, Hill played -- a little -- in three national championships, from 1970 to 1972. Hill was upset at how unequally Wooden treated his starting players, and clashed with Wooden over a variety of social political issues. Hill went on to a successful career in television, rising to the presidency of CBS Productions. And one day, some twenty-five years after graduating from USLA, he realized that everything he knows about getting the best out of his people he had learned directly from Coach John Wooden. Be Quick -- But Don't Hurry! tells the story of their renewed friendship while sharing the lessons and secrets that hold the key to managing creativity in the idea-driven economy of the twenty first century. Full of sound advice and warm reminiscence, this is the management book of a lifetime.
Download Description
Perhaps the least controversial sports honor in living memory was the selection of John Wooden as "Coach of the Century" by ESPN, honoring his ten NCAA basketball championships in a twelve-year stretch. His UCLA teams won with great centers and with small lineups, with superstars and with team effort, always with quickness, always with class. Wooden was a teacher first and foremost, and his lessons -- taught on the basketball court, but applicable throughout one's life -- are summarized in his famed Pyramid of Success. Andrew Hill was one of the lucky young men who got to learn from Wooden in his favored classroom -- though that is hardly how Hill would have described it at the time. An all-city high school player in Los Angeles, Hill played -- a little -- on three national champions, from 1970 to 1972. Hill was left embittered by his experience at UCLA; he was upset at how unequally Wooden treated his starting players and his substitutes. Hill went on to a successful career in television, rising to the presidency of CBS Productions, where he was responsible for the success of such popular series as Touched by an Angel and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. Hill's job required him to manage many creative people, with the egos and insecurities that usually go along with such talents. And one day, some twenty-five years after he graduated, he was hit with the realization that everything he knew about getting the best out of people he had learned directly from Coach John Wooden.
Book Info
The story of a friendship between a student and his teacher, the legendary coach John Wooden. Offers some of the inspirational lessons that the author learned about managing people from Coach Wooden, including failing to prepare is preparing to fail, the team with the best players almost always wins.
About the Author
Andrew Hill spent five and a half years as President of CBS Productions and was, until recently, President of Programming for the Channel One Network. He lives in Los Angeles, California.
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