Tracking instrumented, individualized learning-loop architecture. Current state is a first-order constraint. @TexasFootball
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The architecture was always there:
state diagnosis
next-step determination
feedback
recalibration
But the loop was always constrained by approximation.
Now technology exists to run it:
Faster.
With higher fidelity.
At scale.
Now the loop is tighter and everyone can have one of their own.
That’s the operating-condition shift.
If there was an identifiable process underneath Randy’s decisions, I needed to uncover it.
So I started with something more fundamental: 👇
How does anyone make decisions?
That’s not really a question I think about every day.
So I did some research, reading publications from Harvard Business School Press, the National Academies, and others.
And I found an important principle of decision-making:
To understand a decision, you first need to understand its objectives.
In other words, what is the decision intended to accomplish?
I’d never connected that so clearly before.
But now I had a logical place to start with Randy.
If understanding a decision begins with understanding its objective, then I needed to answer one question first:
WHAT IS RANDY TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH WITH SCOTTIE?
Yesterday, I distinguished between two potential targets for my golf investigation:
1️⃣ CONTENT: The technical aspects of what Randy teaches Scottie about golf.
2️⃣ PROCESS: How Randy knows what to teach Scottie.
Or said another way, how Randy DECIDES what to teach Scottie.
I wasn’t there to learn how to play better golf.
I was there to investigate how teaching decisions get made.
So that process became the natural target.
When I started studying how Randy works with Scottie, it was easy to conclude that Randy is simply an expert who intuitively knows what Scottie needs.
But does he?
Or is there an identifiable process underneath that produces Randy’s decisions?
That’s what I wanted to find out.
So that’s where I needed to start: 👇
HOW DOES RANDY MAKE DECISIONS?
FOR THAT MATTER, HOW DOES ANYONE MAKE DECISIONS?
I chose Randy and Scottie because I wanted to investigate a real-world, recognizable coaching process.
That word “process” would prove to be critically important.
Why?
Because it determined what I would target in my investigation.
Let me explain.
The process is not WHAT RANDY TEACHES SCOTTIE. That’s “content.”
The process is HOW RANDY KNOWS WHAT TO TEACH SCOTTIE.
See the difference?
Why did I choose golf? ⛳️ 👇
Because I’ve had family and friends play and caddie professionally. I’ve seen the game up close and personal at its highest levels.
So it seemed like a natural place for me to start digging.
Why Randy and Scottie?
Because I wanted to examine a real relationship between a specific coach and a specific player.
Two recognizable people. A real-world process I could investigate up close and in detail.
But here’s what I hadn’t anticipated:
For all my familiarity with golf, I’d never attempted to take the coaching process completely apart and examine how its components relate to one another.
And something unexpected happened when I did.
I started finding things I didn’t even know I was supposed to be looking for.
These investigations have changed the way I look at things.
Four very different processes:
⛳ Golf · 📍 GPS · 👨⚕️ Knee Surgery · 🦵 Knee Rehab
When we started, it was hard to see what they might have in common.
But we dug beneath the surface.
We took them apart, examined how the pieces fit together, and discovered patterns that connected them.
What we found was valuable. Very valuable.
But along the way, I learned something else, too.
How to dig.
And that may end up being the most valuable development of all.
🧵 THREAD
Grandpa Joe spent the last week studying how a physical therapist helps a patient recover from knee surgery.
He was looking for the same three patterns he found in Golf ⛳️, GPS 🚙, and Knee Surgery 🦵:
RELATIONSHIP • LOOP • LENS
Remember why Joe is running these tests…
He’s preparing himself to examine how different schools organize the learning process.
So he puts his investigative method to work again…this time applying it to the Knee Rehab process.
Here’s what Joe found. 👇
Today Grandpa Joe examines the LENS 🔎 the therapist uses to “look” 👀 at the patient. 👇
The therapist’s job is to help the patient recover from knee surgery, right?
So when the therapist is determining what the patient should work on next, how does she look at the patient?
Does she rely on the patient’s age, medical history, original injury grade, or date of surgery?
Those factors provide useful context.
But when it’s time to determine what the patient should work on next, what does the therapist rely on most?
WHAT THE PATIENT CAN DO RIGHT NOW.
Range of motion? Strength? Balance? Stability? Mobility? Swelling? Pain?
That’s current state.
That’s the indispensable information.
So that’s the LENS the therapist looks at the patient through.
Just like Randy, GPS, and the Surgeon.
Grandpa Joe didn’t start studying the therapist’s Knee Rehab process just for fun.
He wanted to see if the patterns he found in Golf, GPS, and Knee Surgery would also show up in Knee Rehab. 👇
Let’s take a look at what he found.
1. RELATIONSHIP
⛳️ Golf: Scottie’s next step is determined by what his club and ball are doing right now.
🚙 Driving: The driver’s next turn is determined by where the car is right now.
👨⚕️ Knee Surgery: The surgeon’s next action is determined by the knee’s condition right now.
🏥 Rehab: The patient’s next exercise is determined by what the patient can do right now.
Current State → Determines Right Next Step
2. LOOP
⛳️ Golf: Scottie executes → Randy observes → Randy updates his understanding → Determines next step → Repeat.
🚙 Driving: Driver moves → GPS observes → GPS updates its understanding → Determines next step → Repeat.
👨⚕️ Knee Surgery: Surgeon acts → Surgeon observes → Surgeon updates his understanding → Determines next step → Repeat.
🏥 Rehab: Patient exercises → Therapist observes → Therapist updates her understanding → Determines next step → Repeat.
3. LENS
When determining what should happen next…
⛳️ Golf: How does Randy “look” at Scottie?
Not by his scores and stats. Randy relies most on what the club and ball are doing right now.
🚙 Driving: How does GPS “look” at the driver?
Not by the route or arrival time. GPS relies most on where the car is right now.
👨⚕️ Knee Surgery: How does the surgeon “look” at the knee?
Not by the original diagnosis or planned procedure. The surgeon relies most on the knee’s condition right now.
🏥 Rehab: How does the therapist “look” at the patient?
Not by the original injury or surgery date. The therapist relies most on what the patient can do right now.
Four different processes.
Three recurring patterns.
RELATIONSHIP • LOOP • LENS
Grandpa Joe didn’t start studying the therapist’s Knee Rehab process just for fun.
He wanted to see if the patterns he found in Golf, GPS, and Knee Surgery would also show up in Knee Rehab.
👇 Let’s take a look at what he found.
1. RELATIONSHIP
⛳️ Golf: Scottie’s next step is determined by what his club and ball are doing right now.
🚙 Driving: The driver’s next turn is determined by where the car is right now.
👨⚕️ Knee Surgery: The surgeon’s next action is determined by the knee’s condition right now.
🏥 Rehab: The patient’s next exercise is determined by what the patient can do right now.
Current State → Determines Right Next Step
2. LOOP
⛳️ Golf: Scottie executes → Randy observes → Randy updates his understanding → Determines next step → Repeat.
🚙 Driving: Driver moves → GPS observes → GPS updates its understanding → Determines next step → Repeat.
👨⚕️ Knee Surgery: Surgeon acts → Surgeon observes → Surgeon updates his understanding → Determines next step → Repeat.
🏥 Rehab: Patient exercises → Therapist observes → Therapist updates her understanding → Determines next step → Repeat.
3. LENS
When determining what should happen next…
⛳️ Golf: How does Randy “look” at Scottie?
Not by his scores and stats. Randy relies most on what the club and ball are doing right now.
🚙 Driving: How does GPS “look” at the driver?
Not by the route or arrival time. GPS relies most on where the car is right now.
👨⚕️ Knee Surgery: How does the surgeon “look” at the knee?
Not by the original diagnosis or planned procedure. The surgeon relies most on the knee’s condition right now.
🏥 Rehab: How does the therapist “look” at the patient?
Not by the original injury or surgery date. The therapist relies most on what the patient can do right now.
Four different processes.
Three recurring patterns.
RELATIONSHIP • LOOP • LENS
Today Grandpa Joe examines the LENS 🔎 the therapist uses to “look” 👀 at the patient. 👇
The therapist’s job is to help the patient recover from knee surgery, right?
So when the therapist is determining what the patient should work on next, how does she look at the patient?
Does she rely on the patient’s age, medical history, original injury grade, or date of surgery?
Those factors provide useful context.
But when it’s time to determine what the patient should work on next, what does the therapist rely on most?
WHAT THE PATIENT CAN DO RIGHT NOW.
Range of motion? Strength? Balance? Stability? Mobility? Swelling? Pain?
That’s current state.
That’s the indispensable information.
So that’s the LENS the therapist looks at the patient through.
Just like Randy, GPS, and the Surgeon.
Before Grandpa Joe examines how the therapist “looks” 👀 at the patient, he wants to review the LENS 🔎 used in his previous investigations.
Remember how Randy “looked” at Scottie, how GPS “looked” at the driver, and how the Surgeon “looked” at the knee?
They weren’t looking just to look.
They were looking for a specific reason: 👇
To determine what should happen next.
⛳ Golf: Randy didn’t rely on Scottie’s scores, stats, wins, or world ranking.
He looked at Scottie’s current state…what the club and ball are doing right now.
🚗 Driving: GPS didn’t rely on a planned route or estimated arrival time.
It looked at my current state…where I am right now.
🦵 Knee Surgery: The Surgeon didn’t rely on the patient’s age, medical history, or original diagnosis.
He looked at the knee’s current state…its condition right now.
Factors like scores, stats, routes, age, and medical history all provide useful context in the scenarios above.
But when Randy, GPS, and the Surgeon needed to determine what should happen next…
They relied most on what is happening right now.
That’s current state.
That’s the indispensable information.
So that’s the LENS they viewed through.
Tomorrow we’ll examine how the therapist “looks” at the patient.
Today, Grandpa Joe looks for a LOOP 🔁 in the therapist’s knee rehab process. 👇
What happens after the therapist determines the patient’s next step?
The patient performs the exercise.
The therapist observes what happens.
The therapist uses evidence from what she sees, hears and measures to update what she knows about the patient’s current state.
That update determines the next step.
The patient performs that next exercise.
The therapist observes again.
She uses that new evidence to update what she knows about the patient’s current state.
That update determines the next step.
And the process keeps repeating.
Wait a minute… 👀
The therapist and the patient are running a LOOP.
Grandpa Joe wants to review the LOOP he found in Golf, GPS, and Knee Surgery before he tests it against the Knee Rehab process. 👇
⛳️ Golf:
Randy determines Scottie’s next step based on Scottie’s current state.
Scottie practices.
Randy observes and updates.
That update informs Scottie’s next step.
Repeat.
🚙 GPS:
GPS determines my next turn based on my current location.
I follow the directions.
GPS observes and updates.
That update informs my next turn.
Repeat.
👨⚕️ Knee Surgery:
The surgeon determines the next step based on the knee’s current condition.
The surgeon performs the procedure.
The surgeon observes and updates.
That update informs his next step.
Repeat.
Different processes. Same LOOP.
Tomorrow, Knee Rehab.
