Communication with Williams can help open up new ideas and perspectives and provide him with information he might be missing, writes Krzyzewski, whose mother was a cleaning woman. There have been a couple of times when I've been working in the locker room on something and D.C., who's been cleaning in the background, will pipe up with a comment. Hey Coach, I think Nate might have gotten a bad grade on a test. I'll keep an eye on him in practice tomorrow. I wouldn't have known about that potential problem unless I had already opened a line of communication with D.C. Leaders aren't the only people who can think of innovative things.
Good ideas can come from anywhere and everywhere.
And often, they may come from the people you least expect to have them. Krzyzewski never told Williams about the mention in his book, and it took Williams by surprise. Then they told me to sign it for them. After that, a couple more employees told me about the book. So it was really wonderful.