Mike Krzyzewski learned about the need for flexibility early in his career.

Coach K, as he's called for reasons obvious to anyone who's tried to type his name, is one of the top coaches in college basketball history. Since 1980 he's been the head coach at Duke University, where he has achieved a 680-191 record and won three national championships.

Plus, he's a motivational speaker and author (with Jamie Spatola) of "Beyond Basketball: Coach K's Keywords for Success."

Early Lessons

When he attended West Point, Krzyzewski (pronounced sha-SHEF-ski), 59, played basketball for Bobby Knight. After completing his military duty, Krzyzewski rejoined Knight, then coaching at Indiana University, as a graduate assistant.

Krzyzewski noticed right away that Knight didn't run a grueling zigzag drill that was a practice staple with the Army team. So he asked Knight about it.

Knight told his protege: "Michael, there is a big difference between you and Quinn Buckner." Buckner was the gifted guard of an Indiana team that played at levels far above Krzyzewski's old Army team. It taught Krzyzewski a valuable lesson.

"Things don't stay the same," he said in an IBD interview. "If you are a leader, you have to understand that not only your business situation changes, but the people you're working with aren't the same day to day. Someone is sick. Someone is having a wedding. A leader has to be on top of that, so he or she can gauge the mood, the thinking level of the team that day.

"I write a new practice plan for each day, but I'm not wedded to it. I allocate a half-hour for something, and we accomplish it in 10 minutes — do I stay with my plan? Of course not. Or I allocate five minutes for a drill and we don't get it in five minutes — do I call a halt to it? Adaptability is one of the keys to being a leader."

That was just one of the lessons Krzyzewski picked up from Knight. When he first got the job, other coaches told him what a great opportunity it was. They suggested that he soak up every bit of knowledge he could. They also cautioned him not to be Knight — or anyone else.

"I tell my own assistants and players or other coaches if I'm speaking at a clinic, don't try to be your mentor," Krzyzewski said. "Your mentor is your mentor, and you will never be that person. But take lessons and personal qualities you admire in that person, and use them to make yourself better. Run the same drills, but add your own nuances. If it's not yours, you will never have the same passion for it. "

Although it is now a distant memory, Krzyzewski had some tough times when he first arrived at Duke. During the first three seasons there, he accumulated a 38-47 record, but his boss, Athletic Director Tom Butters, stuck by him.

That, says Krzyzewski, let him go on to succeed — and why he remains committed to his people.

"I've never been afraid to lose, because as I look back I've always had people committed to me who wouldn't let me lose," he said. "I had an atmosphere that was really conducive to success, because I never had to worry about being fired or not making it. I always had somebody behind me who believed in me or gave me support.

"That's the kind of commitment I want to have with my players so they don't spend time worrying about how they are going to lose and only think about how they're going to win."

That kind of commitment generates loyalty.

"One of the reasons I stayed at Duke despite the fact that I was offered lucrative jobs elsewhere is because at the end of the day I want to return that commitment," he said.

Krzyzewski doesn't let others define success for him.

"I can't do my job if I'm trying to live up to someone else's expectations," he said. "We've been very successful. People expect us to win and play well in every game.

"That's a hell of a thing. I don't have a senior (on my team), and only one junior. Six kids are playing their first season of college ball. How are they going to grow if they are not allowed to lose? We have to consider success that we get better over the season. I don't want to use wins or losses as a barometer."

Goal Setting

To help his young players adjust, Krzyzewski sets intermediate goals, and when they reach one he extends the objective further out.

"I can't tell my freshmen that our goal is to win another national championship," he said. "They can't think that far in advance. So I say our goal is just to play well in the next game, and if we do that I define another goal. I like doing it this way. It keeps me hungry."

Designing complicated plays isn't as important as teaching fundamentals. "The fundamentals in anything give you a base," Krzyzewski said. "You can't assume that your team is ready for complicated plays. I'll keep things with this team simple and then just keep adding stuff.

"The big question is what kind of glass do they have? How much water can they hold? I don't want to give them too much to think about because then they won't react instinctively."

He acknowledges that finding that balance requires a lot of juggling — and sometimes he drops a ball. When he makes that mistake, Krzyzewski analyzes it so he doesn't repeat it. That's why Krzyzewski surrounds himself with people he trusts. They'll tell him when he's messing up.

"You have to be incredibly honest with yourself, and the people around you have to be honest with you," he said. "They have to be able to tell you, 'Coach, that was good,' or 'Coach, that was bad.' I give my people a chance to tell me the truth, the time to talk and the courage to tell the truth."

Progress is hindered if you just stay in your comfort zone.

"I'm having individual meetings with my team now and I'm telling the freshmen they're not going to do as well as they did in high school because the competition is greater," he said. "What we're doing is changing your limits. Failure or looking bad is part of the process.

"It's a journey, and failure is not the destination. The destination is success. It's OK to try something and not be perfect. But you have you keep trying."

BY CURT SCHLEIER