Key Insight #3
One of the biggest things I learned from working for the PGA of America was how to solve problems. Since I worked in operations, solving problems was basically what we did every day. There was always something that needed to be fixed, changed, moved, or figured out. I had dealt with problems before, but I had never had to solve them as often or on the same scale as I did while working for the PGA.
Working in operations showed me that you cannot always wait for someone else to tell you what to do when something goes wrong. A problem comes up, and you have to figure out how to make it work. Sometimes that meant finding a different way to complete a task. Other times it meant learning something completely new. During my time with the PGA, I learned how to drive a forklift and took on a lot of different responsibilities because we needed people who could help solve whatever problem came up that day.
One of the biggest challenges we dealt with was the weather. When you are putting on a major golf tournament, the deadline does not change just because the weather is bad. We had days with thunderstorms and other difficult weather conditions where we still had things that needed to get done. We had to figure out how to work around the weather, change our plans, and still meet our deadlines.
That was something I learned very quickly in operations. You can make the best plan possible, but something is eventually going to happen that you did not plan for. When that happens, you cannot just stop. You have to figure out what you can control and find a way to move forward.
The weather was also a major difference between the two tournaments I worked. In Florida, it was extremely hot, but the heat actually helped us with some of the work we were doing. We were able to paint around 500 pieces of lumber in about a week because the hot, dry weather made the paint dry very quickly. Even though working outside in that heat was difficult, we were able to use the conditions to our advantage.
Minnesota was completely different. It was cold, wet, and misty for a lot of the time we were working. The same type of painting that took us about a week in Florida took around four times as long in Minnesota. The conditions were completely different, so we had to change how we worked and be more patient with the process. That was just one example of how much the location and environment could affect our work. We were doing similar jobs, but the way we had to do them was completely different. We had to constantly adjust based on the conditions around us.
The people and leadership were also different between the two tournaments. I worked with different groups in Florida and Minnesota, and they had different ways of communicating and getting things done. In Florida, a lot of us were doing the work for the first time, so we were learning as we went. In Minnesota, I felt like we had stronger management and more experienced leadership, but the team itself worked differently.
That taught me that solving problems is not always about fixing the actual problem in front of you. Sometimes you have to figure out how to work with the people around you to solve it. The same task can be approached completely differently depending on who is doing it, who is leading, and what resources you have available. There were also plenty of smaller problems that came up every day. Equipment would need to be moved, something would not be ready when it was supposed to be, plans would change, or we would have to figure out how to complete a job with less time than expected. Instead of getting stuck on the fact that something went wrong, we learned to focus on what we could do next.
That is probably the biggest change I noticed in myself. Before this job, if something went wrong, I would try to figure out what caused the problem. Working in operations taught me to focus more on the solution. The problem is already there, so spending too much time being frustrated about it does not help. You have to figure out what you can do and get moving.
I also became much more comfortable doing things I had never done before. Learning to drive a forklift is a good example. I had never needed to do that before, but it was something that could help us get the job done, so I learned how to do it. There were a lot of other situations where I had to learn something quickly because the team needed it.
That experience taught me that I do not need to know how to do everything before I start. Sometimes you just have to be willing to learn and figure it out. In operations, there was not always going to be someone standing next to me who already knew exactly what to do. I had to be willing to take responsibility and find a solution. This connects to what I learned in my Sport and Entertainment Management classes because planning and organization are a huge part of managing sporting events. However, working for the PGA showed me that even the best plan is going to have problems. The real skill is being able to adjust when those problems happen.
A golf tournament may look organized and controlled to someone watching from the outside, but there are constantly things happening behind the scenes that fans never see. Operations is about making sure those things get taken care of. If something goes wrong, the goal is not for the fans to notice. Our job was to find a solution and keep everything moving.
That experience gave me a much better understanding of what operations actually means. I used to think of operations mostly as setting things up and making sure everything was where it needed to be. Now I understand that a huge part of operations is problem solving. Things are going to go wrong, and your ability to respond to those problems can determine whether an event is successful.
The two tournaments also showed me that there is no single way to solve every problem. Florida and Minnesota were completely different. The weather was different, the people were different, the leadership was different, and the way we worked was different. I had to adjust to all of those things and still get the job done. Looking back, I think this is one of the most valuable skills I gained from the PGA. I had solved problems in other jobs and experiences before, but never to the extent that I did during these tournaments. I was constantly being asked to figure something out, help someone, or find a way to get something done. Going forward, I know that problems are going to come up in every job I have. Especially in sports, things can change very quickly. Weather can change, schedules can change, people can call out, equipment can break, and deadlines can stay the same no matter what happens. I now feel much more prepared to handle those situations. The biggest lesson I took away is that you cannot control every problem, but you can control how you respond to it. Working in operations taught me to stop worrying about what went wrong and start thinking about what we could do to fix it. Whether we were working through thunderstorms, painting in extreme heat, dealing with cold and wet conditions, learning how to use new equipment, or simply trying to finish a job on time, we always had to find a way to make it work.
And most of the time, we did.