The players who performed in those moments weren’t figuring it out on the fly. They were executing skills they had built over thousands of hours of practice, coaching, and film study. The preparation happened long before tip-off. Game day was just the performance. This got me thinking about the typical first-time manager in manufacturing. They get promoted off the floor because they were excellent individual performers. Then they walk into their first difficult conversation with a direct report, their first presentation to the VP, their first moment where the whole team looks to them to see how they’re going to…