Customer Reviews

Be Quick But Don't Hurry

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As a former UCLA basketballer under John Wooden, I have been waiting for someone to summarize his "secrets." In a quick and articulate read, Andy Hill has done it! Now when someone asks what made Wooden so great, I can tell them to read this book. Former Wooden players are honored to have played for him, but more importantly we implement his philosophy daily. I suppose many college athletes are influenced by their coaches, but everday in everything they do? Interesting, sitting on the bench and thinking he did little, Andy Hill now stands tall among the former Bruin hoopsters. Lynn Shackelford 67-69

Be Quick But Don't Hurry is not only a great and quick read, but Andy Hill's application of the 23 "Secrets" (Wooden's Pyramid of success)that Coach John Wooden utilized in coaching the most successful teams in the history of college basketball are transferable to teaching, business, the non-profit sector, management and even friendships. Hill's touching relationship with Wooden speaks to the lives of any man who thinks of his own father, for better and worse. After 30 years, Hill recognized that his own personal success in business was fundamentally influenced by what the Coach taught him and his team mates. This book can be of good use by teachers, clergy (of which I am one), managers in large and small business, students, athletes, men and their wives who want to better understand their husband's relationships not only with other men, but more importantly with their fathers.

Be Quick But Don't Hurry is a quick read, a pretty good book and a different take on John Wooden's Pyramid of Success that he utilized in coaching the most successful teams in the history of college basketball (UCLA in the 60's and 70's.)

Mr. Hill played for Wooden during his amazing stretch of championships as a backup. The book is basically a reflection of how, after 30 years, Mr. Hill recognized how much he learned from Coach Wooden without knowing he was being taught anything at all.

He discusses how the Secrets of the pyramid are transferable to teaching, business, management and even friendships.

The book is very personal and well written. If you are trying to become a leader or want to learn the keys to success you would gain quite a bit from reading this book. Most importantly, just like basketball, you have to apply these secrets until they become second nature for them to have a profound impact on your life.

There have been many treatments of Wooden's ideas over the years and I've read them all. None have been by anyone who knows first-hand what it was like to play for him and learn from him.

The book, which is a quick read at under 200 pages, is not just business and leadership insights, but is also the story of Hill and Wooden's evolving relationship from antagonistic and perplexing to warm and intimate. It really makes you want to reach out to that person in your life whom you might not have appreciated when you were young, but who has had a lasting impact, if only to say thanks.

You should absolutely read this book.

This book is not a true tribute to Coach Wooden--instead an egotistical former player slams the coach repeatedly, then steals the coach's keys to success to make money in this management advice book.

You'll be shocked to read the first 1/4 of the book, where the former player reveals all the bad things about Coach Wooden. Hill was the anti-war rebel who fought team rules and here he portrays the coach as a backwards right-winger who didn't care for anyone but the top starters. At one point the author even goes out of his way to write, "It is important for you to have a clear picture of this seemingly simple man who many have made out to be almost saintly. John Wooden is not a saint."

What, then, is the purpose of this book? Hill steals the basic Pyramid of Success foundations that Wooden taught and applies them to business management. So even though the author has a great dislike of the coach (at one point even calling it "hate"), as an adult Hill had an "epiphany" where he could use everything the coach taught him and turn it into a book.

It's disgustingly ego-centric. The author was a nothing basketball player on Wooden's team who barely ever played, but he sets himself up as one of the few people in history to ever "play" on three national championship teams (though almost all of it was sitting on the bench and fighting with the coach). He went on to work for CBS--no surprise since the attitude of pretty much everyone who ever worked there is that of an egotistical jerk. There is absolutely no humility on the part of the author, which was one of the keys to Wooden's success.

There may be some lessons to be learned from some of the examples given in the book, but how Wooden ever agreed to be a part of this book will be beyond anyone who reads the first 60 pages. This isn't a loving tribute to a favorite coach--this is an initial hatchet job on the coach with analysis throughout as to the validity of the coach's philosophy. Hill could have handled it with much more class and self-introspection because in most of the examples given the immature, know-it-all Hill was the one causing his own bad situations.

It's difficult to listen to the valid points that are made when the author has shown himself to have so little character. Yes, in the end Hill reconciles with Wooden and says "thanks" to him--but that's as successful TV executive who still acts like he knows more than the coach. At one point near then end he again slams Wooden saying, "I've found it emotionally cathartic to learn that one person who knows that John Wooden was not perfect is Coach himself." OKAY, HILL--we get it already! You think Wooden wasn't perfect! Now what about yourself--can't you step forward and admit your own failings or put yourself down instead of insisting on condemning him??? The problem when the author played for UCLA wasn't the coach, it was the 20-year-old disrespectful jerk who uses faint praise in this book to get the coach back thirty years later.

Andrew Hill did something that I have never seen an author do before - he wrote a loving and wonderful book about a man whom he bitterly "viewed as a teacher who had failed [him] in his class for three straight years." Hill's journey of introspection and ultimate friendship with his former UCLA basketball coach, the legendary John Wooden, is just half of this great book. The other half is John Wooden's twenty-one secrets, or teachings, for a lifetime of success. I highly recommend this unique and inspiring book to leaders and followers, teachers and scholars, coaches and players, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives.

After I read "Wooden" by John Wooden and Steve Jamison, I bought and read this book. I was initially disappointed with Hill's less-than-stellar, yet brutally honest, portrayal of a man for whom I have the deepest respect. I even thought about throwing the book away in disgust. I am glad I decided to keep it and read it all the way. I would have missed out on a truly fascinating and entertaining opportunity to learn many things that are helping me be a better person. I believe the same opportunity exists for anyone who reads this book.

When I first had to read this book for my Honors Economics class, I was very unsure if I was going to like it at all. I have always had a hard time getting along with coaches whom I played for so I was wondering why I had chosen a book that was about a coach. But my fears were laid to rest once I started reading this book; I came to realize that good intentions really are behind many of the decision that coaches make. This book was very well written and kept me wanting to read more. John Wooden's "Pyramid of Success" can be interpeted in many different ways. So many aspects of life apply to this pyramid model which can serve as a guide during those moments of feeling lost. This book was entertaning yet full of lessons for a successful life. I especially recommend this book to all athletes who question their coaches' widsom as well as to people who could use a little guidence through life's journey.

So here it is: A book on management by basketball legend John Wooden and TV exec Andy Hill (two men who clearly understand both what a winning season means AND how to get there ) and the result is not only helpful and informative but humorous and compassionate as well. Hill, who played for Wooden at UCLA before going off to run CBS Television productions, learned more than basketball from the master. He learned how to get the best out of people in the workplace by fostering a unique blend of team spirit and personal initiative. What makes this book so special though is the way Hill interweaves stories of their personal (and often stormy) relationship along with practical, hands-on advice. This book is a must for anyone interested in business, basketball or the volatile relationship between students and mentors, bosses and employees, fathers and sons.

I have also purchased and read They Call Me Coach and Wooden by Steve Jamison. I was a little concerned that I might find some redundancy in this latest book. My fears were unfounded. Andrew Hill brings a lot of experiences that I can relate to in this book (and I don't particularly like basketball). Sorry, coach. I wasn't fond of how some of my past coaches had treated me as a player. Andrew Hill hit a nerve, struck a chord, and then helped me resolve some baggage that I had been carrying for way too long. You can't say that reading a book is always a profound lesson. This clearly was for me, and I look forward to sharing it with future generations.

Andrew Hill with Coach John Wooden's support has created something very unusual and special - a fascinating business book, based upon the greatest basketball coach in the history of the game, that will reach out and touch the reader on a personal and emotional level, as well. Much has been written about Coach Wooden within the ranks of professional journalists, but nothing of this quality has been produced by a true insider, a former UCLA champion, who went on to achieve extraordinary success as a leading executive and producer in the film industry. Andrew Hill's unique athletic background and professional experience enable him to describe Coach Wooden's teaching methods and philosophy from a completely new perspective. "Be Quick, But Don't Hurry" is more than just a valuable and thought-provoking source of information about management principles and skills. It offers a wide variety of readers the chance to learn more about America's "Basketball Coach of the Century" from inside the UCLA dynasty. I enjoyed every minute of it!