Let’s say you have a goal with the team or environment you’re leading. That goal is something like “We will create an environment where everyone is at their best as often as possible”. What systems would you create to help you achieve that goal?

When the All Blacks were at the top of the world, under Sir Graham Henry and then Sir Steve Hansen, they were faced with this question. Their vision, ‘better people make better all blacks’ naturally drove their thinking to the question ‘how do we get ‘better people’ more consistently in the All Black environment?’’

One of the system’s they created to help them achieve this goal was adapted from a medical context. Think of it like a case management approach, with different people with different skillsets in the room discussing where players are at. They discussed players from a:

Collectively, the group could assess and track where there players were at, week-on-week, across their six performance domains.

And if someone in the environment was flagged as needing further intervention? Well, this is where their jigsaw system came into play. Think of a jigsaw puzzle that’s messed up and all over the floor. The jigsaw system was their attempt to put the pieces back together. What it involved was the group asking themselves two questions:

Those people then met, including the player in question, to discuss what is going on, and most importantly, what’s 1-2 things the player needs to do to get back on the right track, performing at their best in that environment. Once that was agreed, they’d set the next meeting to monitor progress and create the next action steps.

The case management approach and jigsaw system were the All Blacks epitomising this message from James Clear. But why I love that quote so much is we can apply it to any thing we’re trying to improve or get better at. What are the systems we can create that help us to align our behaviour towards a goal?

John Wooden, arguably the best coach ever (he is a lot of people’s best coach ever, in any sport) was famous for his pyramid of success, a framework of foundational behaviours that he focused on with the teams he coached. But he also utilised numerous systems that helped his team perform consistently at a high level.

In particular, one of this goals was:

I want to develop players who are focused and can nail the fundamentals consistently.

His system:

Practices were always meticulously planned but always finished after two hours. Why was this? Because he felt shorter, more intense practices were better for players focus and concentration, and therefore better for their consistency.

Sam has written about Danny Kerry, former British Hockey Head Coach before.

One of his goals when he was coaching that team was:

I want to develop players who can adapt to any situation, no matter the stakes

His system:

Thinking Thursdays - Every Thursday would be games that tested thinking and decsion-making under pressure. From one of his players “We would have to perform under fatigue, with changing rules and come up with a plan that would give our team the best chance of success”.

I’ve also written about Andrew Webster, NZ Warriors Head Coach before.

One of his goals with that team is:

I want an environment where we have more interaction and connection with each other

His system:

Redesigning the office so the last people players pass on the way to their cars after training are the coaching staff. Before they leave, a coach will share a clip with them of the something they did well at training that day.

You can see in these examples, goals aren’t left to chance. There is deliberate thought put into how those goals can be realised, but crucially, it’s done through the design of systems.

A useful way to think about all of this is the iceberg analogy. The results, the wins, the performances, the behaviours you're proud of are what's visible above the waterline. But beneath the surface, holding all of that up, are the systems. And like an iceberg, what's below is almost always bigger and more significant than what you can see.

The events you observe in your environment. How people behave, how they train, how they show up, are driven by the structures underneath them. Change the structures, and over time, you change your people’s behaviours. That's the leverage point most coaches overlook.

Remember: people don't rise to the level of their goals, they fall to the level of their systems.

So, what are your systems? Not your goals. You no doubt have those. Most coaches do. The goals aren't the problem. The gap between where you are and where you want to be is almost never a goal problem. It's a system problem.

Look back at the examples above. Henry and Hansen didn't just want better people, they built a weekly structure to track it. Wooden didn't just want focused players, he capped practice at two hours. Kerry didn't just want adaptable players, he gave Thursday a job. Webster didn't just want connection, he redesigned the physical space to create it.

None of these systems are revolutionary. But they are simple, repeatable, and deliberately designed to close the gap between intention and reality.

Here's a practical place to start:

Pick one goal you have for your team or environment right now. Write it down. Then ask yourself three questions:

That's it. One goal. One system. Repeated consistently.

Because the coaches who build great environments aren't just the ones with the clearest vision, they're the ones also designing the structures to drive that vision, focusing on the stuff below the waterline.

"A bad system will beat a good person every time."

W. Edwards Deming

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