— No one is to personally take credit for collective achievements, or be blamed for mistakes; it would be disrespectful to do so. We learn from mistakes collectively and appreciate their lessons. We celebrate together. We respect open, helpful feedback and input.

This final Athletic Standard is a commitment that there will be no discrimination to taking credit or blame.

Those who rarely make mistakes are delaying progress.

Personally, I can hardly think of something more spirit-crushing then someone taking personal credit for collective work. This Machiavellian behavior crushes trust and motivation. I also cringe when I witness specialists, who ‘failed’ at something they dared to achieve, are criticized by those who stood safely aside and did not offer a helping hand. Athletic Developers value trust over doubt, but make allowance for doubting, too; they step in to help instead than assign blame so that they can learn from it too.

I often encounter (and sometimes catch myself being) a Captain Hindsight (a South Park character whose superpower is to lecture on what could’ve or should’ve been done differently).

Sometimes I encounter someone who is so set on constantly proving others wrong they’ll behave obstructively. They enjoy being right about being pessimistic. They focus on what can’t be done; rather than what can be done. Then there is the “we win” (ego-enhancement) but “they lost” (self-preservation) syndrome. Ugh.

All this is not to say there shouldn’t be open, honest criticism; there should be —and it should be radically open; yet it must be constructive, pragmatic, and, above all, assistive.

When giving feedback, help implement it.

Progress should be fun and rewarding; that, I believe, is the primary motivator. Athletic Developers take risks. To do so, they must be psychologically safe. This is achieved through positive encouragement and validation. We let each other know what is going well and why. So that we will keep doing more of that.