There’s a new podcast coming from LeBron James and JJ Reddick called Mind the Game. This podcast is an exposition of the thinking, one could say “high-level thinking” behind some of the the better folks to have recently played the game. There is a piece of thought which considers topics and conversations like this to amount to a kind of “nerd-ing out.” A lot of pontification from those who do the thing and who are innately aware of the crevices which pass beyond the recognition of others who might simply see the outputs or results.

And yet, there’s likely a better framing to this - many don’t have the same kind of care or intentionality to their work as these persons do. James/Reddick are lauded for their way of thinking through the game such that it isn’t known as “nerd-ing out” but as “proficiency.” When one aligns with proficiency, they are digging into the side of understanding the patterns and provisions of a space - obsessively. They are at the point where “practice” not shows an admission to failings, not perfections. Their recognition of “there’s more to be done and learned” comes from not getting approval, but from a sense of mastery.

The knowledge management (or information technology) space is affixed to a similar mindset. One sees it in the adoration and derision of those persons who are considered unicorns for their abilities to learn, code, and deploy solutions that take teams of persons to achieve. It is found in the persons who sit deftly behind charismatic leaders, skillfully balancing operational tactics alongside strategic vision. These are the persons who have allowed themselves a space to be refined not by “getting the result,” but by becoming better on their path(s) to achieving outcomes only those who are intense will also recognize.

Those who align to proficiency within areas outside of their professions are posturing something similar to the everlasting classroom concept. They are allowing themselves to be shaped by a sense of unknown-unknowns so that they might recognize within themselves, or their environments, the ability to go somewhere better/different. It could be said that for these folks, to align themselves with these kinds of acknowledged proficiencies might, in fact, enable them to actually become the professional their spaces says they are.