Need "going-back-to-basics" success stories

August 8, 2006 2:59 PM

I'm looking for real-life examples of coaches, business people, athletes or teams who experienced great success when they went back to the basics/fundamentals.

Links to articles or stories would be great. Thank you.

posted by rinkjustice to grab bag (14 comments total)

What does "back to the basics/fundamentals" mean?
posted by jayder at 3:07 PM on August 8, 2006

The Miracle on Ice.
posted by quadog at 3:11 PM on August 8, 2006

Solid example quadog!
posted by rinkjustice at 3:27 PM on August 8, 2006

Here's a description of the founding of "Top Gun". Some in the Navy had criticized a growing reliance on missiles as opposed to crew skill. Thus the Top Gun program could be considered a return to basics.
posted by Humanzee at 3:34 PM on August 8, 2006

Not sure if this qualifies, but UCLA basketball under John Wooden was all about fundamentals. Wooden's pyramid of success. or here another "official" site.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 4:09 PM on August 8, 2006 [1 favorite]

Don't we all scream (a little inside, anyway) for Ben & Jerry's?
posted by rob511 at 4:58 PM on August 8, 2006

The 1990 Cincinnati Reds lead wire to wire and swept the favored A's in the World Series with pitching and speed on the bases
posted by Mick at 5:03 PM on August 8, 2006

Never has there been a better example of "stick to the fundamentals," than UCLA Bruin basketball under John Wooden. JohnnyGunn's links will get you started. Wooden has written books, with this very thing as the theme, and books have been written about the Wooden years at UCLA. Classic stuff, whether sports, business or life in general. He is quite a man.
posted by Gerard Sorme at 5:25 PM on August 8, 2006 [1 favorite]

The Britten motocycle - John Britten built a racing bike from scratch, designed from first principles, taking bike design in directions it hadn't gone before. The bike gained an impressive list of world records. He died of cancer a few years ago, but here's the website of the company.
posted by -harlequin- at 5:58 PM on August 8, 2006

Excellent examples everyone. I'll be sure to follow up on all the suggestions!
posted by rinkjustice at 7:12 PM on August 8, 2006

The computer industry is full of examples, two come to mind:

*Apple, Microsoft, and the PC Clonemakers: In the '70s, the computer industry was dominated by complex and expensive minicomputers and mainframes. IBM laughed at the idea of "personal" computers, and made only a token effort. Microsoft bought a weak operating system and sold it through IBM. They made billions. They still make billions, selling software that sophisticated users often scoff at but the masses love to buy. Apple did the same thing - first with the original Apple line, then the Macintosh and finally the iPod.

*Web 2.0: Most of Web 2.0 is boring old applications that have been remixed for web use. Writely and Google Spreadsheets are late '90s era applications that are cool because they work on the web.
posted by b1tr0t at 8:06 PM on August 8, 2006

Bruce Lee kind of got back to "prefundamentals."
posted by callmejay at 8:57 PM on August 8, 2006

Oh, and I bet the new USA team under Coach K will qualify.
posted by callmejay at 8:58 PM on August 8, 2006

2004, 2005 Detroit Pistons.
posted by klangklangston at 10:52 AM on August 9, 2006