How to Bust Your Rackets

During the Prohibition Era, there was a criminal business model called a “racket.” A racket consisted of a legitimate business up front, like a bookstore, and an illegitimate business, usually a bar, in the back. The business in the front was visible and open to all, whereas the business in the back was hidden and accessible only to those who would keep the secret. 

The idea of a racket is used in the book The Three Laws of Performance as an analogy to explain how we can get in our own way when trying to create change. Our rackets have the following four parts, two visible and two usually hidden from our awareness: 

Visible: 

1. A persistent complaint

2. Behaviors associated with the complaint

Hidden: 

1. Payouts we receive for keeping the complaint and its behaviors around. 

2. Costs we pay for keeping the complaint and its behaviors around. 

Here is a racket that I had a couple of years ago. 

Visible: 

1. My persistent complaint was that I am busy. I felt overloaded with too many classes to teach. 

2. Some of my behaviors associated with this complaint were: 

• soft-complaining to friends and family about how busy I was 

• preparing for class in a way that was just good enough to keep everyone happy without taking the time to create truly excellent lessons 

• not meeting deadlines with grading and arriving to work late and rationalizing it to myself with the excuse that I was so busy

Hidden: 

3. Some of the pay-outs I received from keeping my complaint and its behaviors around were: 

• sympathy from friends and family, self-pity 

• not having to do the work of becoming more focused and disciplined in order to create truly great lessons 

• time to relax instead of meeting grading deadlines and getting to work on time 

4. Finally, the costs I paid for keeping the complaint and its behaviors around were: 

• wasted time spent in pity parties rather than in more fruitful conversation 

• lost professional development, experience and gains in efficiency that would have come from practicing consistently creating truly excellent lessons 

• decrease in respect and credibility caused by not meeting deadlines and showing up on time

Also, the costs that others paid for my complaint and its behaviors were: 

• my family and friends had to endure my soft-complaining 

• my colleagues paid the cost of time and energy to help me catch up in grading when I was behind

• my students missed out on experiencing better instruction and the greater impact of more timely feedback on their work

I am deeply grateful to my coach, Joseph Thompson, for exposing my racket when he asked me, “What are the ways in which you use the story of being busy to let yourself off the hook?” It was uncomfortable to dissect the elements of my racket during that coaching session but it allowed me to see and take ownership of the parts that were invisible to me. Once my racket was out in the open, I was able to confront the ways I was getting in my own way of becoming a master teacher. 

This week, I invite you to bust one of your rackets by thoughtfully working through the following questions: 

1. What is a persistent complaint that you have? 

2. What are the behaviors associated with your complaint? 

3. What are the pay-outs that you receive for keeping the complaint and the associated behaviors around? 

4. What are the costs that you and others pay for your keeping the complaint and associated behaviors around? 

God Bless,
Dan

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P.S.- Exploring rackets is just one of the many powerful tools that the participants of TAM NOVA will be using to move mountains in their lives during our upcoming retreat on July 1-3. If you’re intrigued, we still have some openings. Send me an email if you’d like to learn how you can be a part of this life-changing experience.