Quote / Unquote: Andre Agassi on the Power of Decisions

Quote / Unquote is a feature that appears irregularly but frequently. It offers a simple, noteworthy quotation on some aspect of leadership, communication, or business. In most cases we also provide context, comment, or questions to stir discussion.

 

I have just finished reading Andre Agassi’s memoir, Open: An Autobiography, written with J.R. Moehringer, who deserves more credit than he accepts for the book.

Like only a few memoirs by professional athletes, Agassi’s book goes deep inside the man to reveal a love-hate conflict over his sport, the twists and turns of his personal relationships, his doubts about himself, and much more. It is a probing, wise, and deeply reflective book. I recommend it.

I have a habit of using little sticky tabs to mark passages that I want to remember and perhaps cite in my own books. Just by looking at the paper side of any book that I have finished, you get a clear indication of whether I found it intellectually satisfying. Agassi’s book has more than two dozen purple tabs.

At the beginning of Chapter 21, the winner of all four Grand Slam tournaments is talking about the need to change some of his personal and professional habits, after his coach gives him an ultimatum on the loss of his international standing: either quit playing professional tennis altogether, or go back to the beginning and start all over.

Agassi realizes that any real and lasting change must begin by breaking old habits and remaking new ones. He writes, with no apology for the colorful language:

Our best intentions are often thwarted by external forces—

forces that we ourselves set in motion long ago. Decisions,

 especially bad decisions, create their own kind of momentum,

and momentum can be a bitch to stop.

 

As you reflect on this quotation, ask yourself what bad habits your team, organization, or enterprise set in place long ago, and what bad habits you and your colleagues tolerate without much second thought.

By the same token, ask yourself what good habits you have for which perhaps you don’t give yourselves enough credit.

Ask yourself what personal habits you demonstrate in the workplace that your peers and employees see, and ask yourself what the behavioral implications of those habits are on others.

Ask yourself what it would take to replace your bad habits with some better ones. Then decide when you will do it; and finally, as they say at Nike, just do it.