Last week, we explored the concept of how we can use the three zones of productivity as a framework for assessing whether our goals are attainable. Like the tale of Goldilocks and the three bearz, our goals should ideally fall in the “just-right” difficulty level of the growth zone: challenging, but not impossible.
Going into the Open, I was very focused on testing for Level 2 at some point over the weekend. I had made sure I met all the listed requirements for advancement, but to be honest, I had a very immature perception of what it really meant to be L2. In particular, I placed too much emphasis on the role of L2 as signifying judges who knew Competitive rules and policy, and I felt I “deserved” to be L2 for that reason. This short-sightedness led me to overlook other elements of the level, such as being a leader in my community and the ability to mentor other judges.
I went into SCG Providence expecting to level up, but instead I leveled up my understanding of the Judge Program. It took me a while for me to really understand that, though. At the time, it was an incredibly emotional and disappointing experience. (Although people like to joke about how some judges are robots, I assure you, even the L5 judges are human too.) Gavin’s decision forced me to re-evaluate both my opinion of myself and how I viewed the judge levels, and that process of self-reflection is something I think about often when discussing L2 advancement.
As you can tell by how much I’ve written about it, SCG Providence was a very impactful event for me. While I already mentioned that the event stands out in my mind as a prime example of the growth zone, I’ve also come to understand my conversation with Gavin from the perspective of preventing me from entering the danger zone. Each higher level comes with correspondingly greater responsibilities: not just in the ability to certify or advance judges, but also regarding expectations from other judges about your skills and abilities. Being advanced to L2 too quickly could have easily led me into a situation where I would be expected to perform tasks that I wasn’t actually capable of doing — the very definition of the danger zone.
Fortunately, people aren’t static, and the judge program provides many opportunities for growth and advancement. Putting this in the context of goals, it’s important to remember that a goal’s attainability can change over time — and you have the power to make your goals more achievable.
After a while, though, I had learned most of what I could learn from head judging PTQs and similarly-sized events — they had moved into my comfort zone; or, more accurately, my comfort zone had grown to include them. At that point, my focus shifted away from being “the guy” and head judging these tournaments, and into providing opportunities and support for other judges to help them develop their own head judging skills. This dance plays out in similar ways across the judge program: veteran L2’s backing up new L2’s head judging their first PPTQ’s; L3’s supporting L2’s who are team leading on Day 2 of a Grand Prix; experienced judges (of any level!) helping judge candidates run an FNM or a Pre-Release.
Wrapping Up
Over the past few weeks, we’ve explored in great detail what it means for a goal to be attainable. We started with asking why attainability is important in the first place, spent some time learning about the three zones of productivity, and closed things out today with some stories about my own experiences across the three zones.
That’s all I have to say about attainability, but don’t worry — I’ll return to the concept of goal-setting in the near future. I’m head judging a PPTQ this weekend, so maybe next week’s post will feature some stories from that event. Either way, the next time we talk about goals, our focus will be examining them from a broader, more holistic point of view.
I’d love to get your thoughts on these posts and how you’ve liked Bearz Repeating overall so far. Just like everything else in judging, I need your feedback to improve! Feel free to leave your comments here, or shoot me an email if you’d prefer.
Hey, Paul! Great job on the series so far. I have enjoyed how you’ve articulated the process of creating goals and how to keep them where they should be to be most effective. Your series is inspiring me to develop my own over-arching goals for the coming year, particularly in defining my own role in the judge program as a whole. Thanks, and I look forward to next week!