John Webster once said, my problem was I reminded him of the joke about the golfing gorilla.
Apparently a man goes to meet his friend for a round of golf.
When he gets there, he can’t see his friend anywhere.
But there’s a gorilla standing at the tee holding a note.
The note says, “Sorry I can’t make it. But my trained gorilla, will give you a good game.”
So the man let’s the gorilla tee off.
The gorilla drives the ball 300 yards, straight down the fairway.
The ball stops an inch from the hole.
The man, of course, concedes the hole.
It’s the same at the next hole.
And the next.
The man loses the match eighteen holes to nil.
That evening, he meets his friend in the bar.
He tells him he lost every hole to the gorilla.
His friend looks amazed, “What happened?”
The man says, “At every hole your gorilla did an amazing 300 yard drive which ended an inch from the hole, So I conceded every hole.”
His friend said, “You shouldn’t have done that. You could have won.”
The man said. “How could I possibly have won.”
His friend said, “That gorilla putts like he drives.”
John Webster said, “That’s you. Creatively, you putt like you drive.”
I knew what he meant.
I can’t do subtelty.
Even when it’s the right thing to do.
It’s kind of like Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins.
I want to bust the back of the pocket, rather than trickle the ball in slowly.
I haven’t got the mid-range gears.
I’ve only got the one gear.
Foot on the floor in 4th.
A lot of times this is the right gear.
Sometimes it isn’t.
The trick is to build up a department full of people who’ve got the other gears.
And know when to stand aside and let them take the putt.