“You’re not going to believe this.”
 

The caller was Tom – the captain of our tennis team.  Judging from his tone, the something that I wasn’t going to believe was not something good.

“Try me,” I said adventurously.

“Jason just called to say that he can’t make the match this Sunday.  That means that we are now without both of our #1 Doubles players,” Tom announced.  “Now, what are we going to do?”

“What are we going to do?” I thought to myself.  “What are we going to do?  We are going to lose, of course.  We are going to go down in flames.  Our playoff hopes dashed!  Our best season ruined!”

To Tom, I said, “We’re going to throw Line #1 Doubles.”

“Excuse me?” Tom said doubtfully.

Before I tell you the rest of the story, here’s a little background.  Tom has been captaining the team all summer after I declared that I just couldn’t do it again.  Since this was Tom’s first go-round as captain, he consulted with me about how to complete the lineup card most weeks.  Under normal circumstances, we would schedule our best Singles player at Line #1 Singles and our best Doubles team at Line #1 Doubles.  The second best Singles player would play Line #2 Singles and our second and third best Doubles teams would play Lines #2 and #3 Doubles.  In this particular USTA league, we have to field eight players in this configuration each week.

The tricky part is trying to make sure eight of the thirteen players on the roster can play each week and then putting them together in such a way as to win three of the five lines.  If you win at least three lines you win the match.  At the time of Tom’s call, we were in 2^nd place and the lineup card he was preparing was for our match against the 1^st place team.

Quite simply, we needed to win the match or we were out of the playoffs.

“Well, we’re not going to throw it per se but what we need to do is put our best players in positions that will give us the best chance of winning three lines.  Since our best doubles players are not available and they would have played Line #1, let’s put our usual Line #3 guys at Line #1.  Our chances of winning that line won’t be good but it should leave us with enough firepower to still win the match."

"Okay," Tom said "I'm with you so far."

"Then, let’s take our best available player, Jules, and put him with you on Line #3.  We’ll leave the Singles and Line #2 Doubles alone.  This way, we need to win one of the Singles lines and both Lines #2 and #3 Doubles to win the match.”

“That’ll make Line #3 Doubles a virtual lock,” Tom mused.  “So, that’s one win.  Either Bob or Mitch will win their Singles match and you and John have been playing well at Line #2 Doubles. . . I like it.  Plus, who knows, we might still win the Line #1 Doubles.”

"Right," I agreed.

Okay, so that’s what we went with and we ended up losing Singles #1 and Doubles #1 and winning Singles #2 and Doubles #2.  All that was left was Doubles #3 with Jules and Tom.  Both teams gathered next to the court to watch the match that was going to determine which of us was going to the playoffs.  Tom played very well but Jules was spectacular.  He simply put on a show with his athleticism, shot making and racquet control.  They won easily and it was high fives all around as Jules and Tom came off the court.

Afterward, we’re standing around drinking beers and eating wings with the vanquished opponents when one of the guys on their Line #3 says to me,
 

“That guy, Jules, shouldn’t have been on Line #3.  He’s too good.”

“Well,” I replied “we put him there because we were trying to win.”

Establishing goals is great but greater still is figuring out a strategic plan for achieving them.  Don't worry if your plan doesn't follow the usual guidelines.  Strategic plans often require a little creativity.  Regardless of the path you end up choosing, remember this about your plan and your likelihood of achieving it will increase dramatically:
 
Stay focused.  Be deliberate.  Be determined.