Critical Day Focus...

So, just before the Olympics, we were chatting with some of the athletes about the opportunities still left to mentally sharpen up and get the most out of the remaining preparation days. We challenged them to answer the following:

"If out of all of the days you've had to prepare for Beijing, you knew that tomorrow was the critical day to get right in determining your success in China, what difference would that make to how you approached tomorrow?"

If there was a difference that would occur, then it was clear that the absolutely focused, winning mindset was not 100% present every day. How low below that critical day focus could they afford to drop and still feel like they were optimising preparation? How could they maintain that clarity of focus going forward, without pushing too far and making everything seem critically important and thus crank the pressure up too much? How could they learn from what they'd do differently to help extract some extra benefit from the count up to the actual critical day of their final?

The question really focused them in to help make some important choices and stay in control of preparation - choosing to make it the best that it could be and using pressure positively.

So, does a critical day focus do anything for how you might do things differently?

Recalibrate your risks?

Risks you can afford to take - Risks you can not afford to take - Risks you can afford not to take - Risks you can not afford not to take...

Four different kinds of risks... and do those risks look very different in the current climate? Risks that you could previously afford not to take might now need taking... Risks that you'd previously not think twice about taking - where do they fit into your current plans and performance?

Just like all elite performers, keep checking the fundamentals that underpin your performance, constantly update your understanding of the environment that you're performing in and check that you've got the most up to date and relevant tactics going. Your risk profile is an essential part of this and you'll have got into very strong risk taking habits in recent times when the environment has remained constant - in challenging, novel conditions, you can't rely on habits, you have to consciously and explicitly control the performance you're delivering and cash in on all of your past experiences. The main risk you mustn't take right now is too let your habitual thinking control everything uncensored - consciously competent risk taking is the order of the day!

An experiment...

We'd like to invite you all to take part in an experiment - and of course let us know any results you might experience.

We talk a lot about the importance of feedback and the fact that elite performers crave feedback and seek it out, rather than waiting for it to "happen" to them once or twice per year in during a performance review. So, instead of perpetuating a less than useful attitude towards feedback we'd like you to see what happens when you do the following:

1. Identify something that you're working on and attempting to improve/change/refine (this might be making a strength stronger, rather than just developing a weakness).
2. Start working on that thing very deliberately.
3. Make some notes around feedback to yourself about what you've noticed as a result of your efforts.
4. After you've been working on it for a while, find a colleague who you would like to hear from and tell them that you've been working on the thing you've been working on and whether they have any feedback specifically about that bit of your performance - don't just spring it on them, give them time to think and reflect and then give them chance to pass any feedback to you that they believe to be useful (you might have to remind them that feedback is simply that and should not be heard as "can you point out to me things that need improving"!)
5. Listen to the feedback they provide you with and compare it to your own thoughts.
6. Decide what you want to do with the feedback.

We'd be interested to see if you find this any more helpful than simply asking "can you give me some feedback on how I've been performing recently?"

Looking forward to seeing your results!

Jim Collins...

is a very clever man, on all sorts of levels. Not only has he authored some very good books , he's also just produced this timely bit of PR, which has got some great stuff in it.

Most interestingly, Collins asserts that; "What we're experiencing now, get used to it! It's life, and it's the normal life. " Which suggests to us that a lot of what we've been blogging about is going to become consistently important, rather than people thinking this stuff might be relevant for them because of the current circumstances.

Another point that is of relevance to us all relates to thinking long term and keeping a much longer end-game in mind and not simply becoming great at reacting (or overreacting) to the here and now.

The final points to highlight are the following:
"The right people don't need to be managed. The moment you feel the need to tightly manage someone, you've made a hiring mistake.
The right people don't think they have a job: They have responsibilities. If I'm a climber, my job is not [just] to belay. My responsibility is that if we get in trouble, I don't let my partner down.
The right people do what they say they will do, which means being really careful about what they say they will do. It's key in difficult times. In difficult environments our results are our responsibility. People who take credit in good times and blame external forces in bad times do not deserve to lead. End of story. "

We've been talking for a long time about ultimate confidence actually being "knowing that you WILL do what you say you are going to do." Nice to have the thoughts backed up from elsewhere. But to us, more than anything, these examples just show an exemplary focus on performance - if the focus is performance, then a lot of this stuff makes even more sense. Have you got the people around you who understand performance and how to perform in order to get the desired results? It's easy to become an expert and identifying results, talking about them and then explaining failure to deliver those results - it's a lot harder to become a performance expert.

Oh, and thanks to one of our performance focused friends within D&B for highlighting the article to us.

3 Key Attitudes...

We know from the greatest people we've worked with that they're superb at consistently carrying around with them the ideas that...

Their natural talent is not enough for them to excel...

They have to constantly keep working on where to focus their desire to improve... and

They have to embrace change and drive change if they're going to truly be able to be great.

These become particularly important when results are hard to come by.

Do they work for you?

Looking Forward to 2009...

It's interesting how by creating a whole "eve" concept, it adds to the excitement of what's to come. Would Christmas Day be quite so exciting without the clear, exciting signposts that are Christmas Eve? Probably not quite as exciting, although the day would still hold its own charms and rituals. However, there's some useful learning from creating a sense of anticipation, excitement and expectation.

Looking forward to things, in both meanings of the phrase, is important for delivering optimal performance and taking on challenges. Just think about how something feels psychologically different if you're not looking forward to it - you're tentative about what's going to happen, you're unhelpfully nervous, you've got a predominantly reactive mindset where the situation is controlling you, you're probably not confident about how you're going to perform and you'd happily not actually go through with the event in reality.

When you're looking forward to something in contrast, you can't wait for the time to start, you're excited about the prospects of what's going to happen, you're confident you'll take everything in your stride as well as carry out the bits you've planned, in short lots of positive thoughts and emotions.

Thinking about some key events at the beginning of 2009, what can you do to make sure that you're creating a Christmas Eve feel for some key events early in the year? What is there to look forward to? What is there that engages your curiosity and makes you wonder about how well you might be able to deliver some performances?

With a lot of natural trepidation around from a business point of view for 2009, everyone is going to have to work harder at looking forward to things in order that they take the challenges on with maximum effect. Good job we've got Christmas to learn from.

Don't burn yourself out!

In this video we see Prof Richard Wiseman (of "The Luck Factor" and "Quirkology") demonstrating that firewalking is a load of old tosh. Most enjoyable, as although we believe in the power of the mind sometimes it can be taken a bit too far! Fine line, genius and insanity!

It got me thinking about the power of the mind and that it can actually only take you so far... sometimes you have to go with the Stockdale Paradox and realise that simply being blindly optimistic about your ability to deal with anything in your path does not have longevity.

The firewalkers could have walked the whole length of the burning coals, had they kept stepping off every 15 feet, checking their feet and then stepping back on for another 15 foot burst. It's still walking the whole length, but it's realising that natural limitations need to be listened to and accounted for.

Who out there is simply trying to tough it out by pushing themselves in the blind belief that your body can take anything and you simply have to hang in there for long enough? Who is being smarter and regularly facing the reality of the situation you're in, coming up with a short term plan to make progress and then sense checking again? Focused bursts of intense, full conviction effort, contrasted by regrouping and recovering will ultimately allow more of your natural talents to be used, with much greater effect.

Don't be like the fire walkers! Understand that you're capable of great things when the pressure's on, but be smart about the way that you use your abilities and apply them mindfully to the immediate challenges you face so that you can keep using your talents and not get burnt out!

Footballer Wisdom...

Two words I thought I'd never write next to each other... an oxymoron if ever there was one!

However, take a look at this from Robbie Keane, the Liverpool benchwarmer.

"I'm not being big-headed but I've scored a lot of goals in the last 10 years and it's not just going to go away like that," he told BBC Radio 5 Live."

"I never get down about things. Some players get their head down and cry but I'm too mentally strong for that."

"I've only been here a few months and sometimes it does take a little time to settle in. I prefer to be judged a little further down the line than now."

In keeping with the previous post... he knows his talents aren't just going to go away like that. We're backing him to carry on being a great player. Robust confidence in action folks. How do you compare to Robbie?

Survive or Thrive?

I was talking with a team we work with the other day and remarked how they were in a perfect storm. End of year mayhem to bring home the promised numbers, a change of leader, planning for 2009 to be completed and a really uncertain external climate. The perfect situation for a team to fracture.

At this point, ordinary teams become groups of individuals, with increased focus on individual areas with the mindset of "I don't want to be the one responsible for failure." In these circumstances, teams often stop communicating and become focused on making safe choices rather than brave ones, they stop building confidence and instead focus on making sure they don't lose too much of it. They feel less and less in control as the external conditions present ever increasing challenges and rather than the mindset in buoyant times which is much more likely to be "how can we make the most of this?", they choose the mindset of "I hope I / we survive."

Thinking about how to survive 2009 is one choice. Thinking about how to thrive in 2009 is another. The external conditions won't change, though your individual and collective performance probably will. It's not about ignoring external reality. It's about actively accepting it and and then asking "how can we make the most of these conditions?"

Eating my own dog food....

So I'm sitting on the stationary bike doing a warm down session after a half marathon on Sunday. It's a bike in a hotel gym though exactly the same make and model as the bike I use at my local gym. It's only a warm down session so I'm not going crazy -even so I start to become a little disappointed at my speed. My cadence (rpm) seems to be fine and I feel like I'm working at the right level of exertion but I'm simply not going very fast.

I start to tell myself that I must be more tired from Sunday's race than I thought I was - as I started to feel more disappointed still, I began to wonder if I should call it a day. Then I realised the problem. The bike at my local gym is calibrated in kilometres and this one's in miles.

Now my attitude changes completely. I become pleased with myself that I can do such a god job after Sunday's race and notice that I feel strong. I begin to enjoy the session, I push myself harder and am a little sorry when it's over.

I can't believe my series of schoolboy errors:

1. Don't assume because something looks the same, it is the same

2. Listen to how you're feeling as well as the data - feelings are valid data too

3. When you reference your performance to an external source you can demotivate yourself superbly

Note to self - in tough times, remember that your personal qualities stay with you - and don't change whether it's miles, kilometres or anything else...

Go on, be brave...

Whilst having a rare flick through the FT the other day, we happened across a book review for "Managing to Learn Using The A3 Management Process to Solve Problems, Gain Agreement, Mentor, and Lead" by John Shook. Not the most enticing of titles! However, the FT article was entitled "The Toyota mindset revealed", which got us interested straight away.

The review is here if you'd like to see it for yourself.

However, if you can't be bothered to read it, here's some bits that we thought were great and we wondered how many people were going to be brave in these challenging times and see if they could take advantage of these simple, but powerful ideas (or make more from them if you're already doing it!).

"Western managers think their job is to get results. Toyota thinks managers’ job is to design and sustain processes that generate these results as a matter of course. Western managers think they employ workers to do a job. Toyota employs workers to learn how to do the job better – to keep improving that process, and therefore the results. Western managers think management is about knowing the answers and telling other people what to do. Toyota disagrees again: if managers tell staff what to do, they take responsibility away.

The manager’s job is to help staff learn problem-solving skills and work out what they need to do for themselves. Real organisational leadership is about doing both – improving operations and developing people – at the same time in such a way that they are mutually supporting."

Highly simple, highly effective ideas. Very in keeping with the PlanetK2 view of things in relation to eliteteam concepts and very clear that if you ultimately want high performance that is culturally dependent and not reliant on individual leaders, then these kind of ideas are the way forward... especially when the performance demands are higher than ever.

Attitudes are contagioius...

... are yours worth catching? (Great line that we've seen attributed to Aussie cricket great, Steve Waugh, but I'm sure it came from somewhere else first!).

Actually, do you even know your attitudes? If you're not fully aware of those attitudes, then you're probably not realising how you're infecting people around you! When the conditions around you are really tough, it's absolutely essential that you know how you're attitudes are impacting upon the people you interact with. Mindful use of attitudes is another one of those factors that won't guarantee success, but it's an area that you can control and to be honest, if you don't, you're missing an opportunity to make sure that you've done everything within your power to win through.

So, what kind of attitudes are helpful at the moment in your world? In leadership positions? In team player positions? Which kinds of attitudes create noise that you need to limit the impact of? Who are the great attitude leaders in your environment that you need to make sure get listened to and that you know you need to be around in order to benefit from their mindset?

Ask yourself if you can have then world's best attitude for dealing with current challenges, just for one day. If you can, see how well you can implement that mindset for one day, and then set yourself the same challenge tomorrow!

Why bother?

Viktor Frankl (author of the great book, Man's Search for Meaning) observed that "where there is a why, you can endure almost any how"... deep words... but very true.

So, have a look around you. We're in pretty tough times, and the people who have a "why", either a personal why, team why or organisational why, that actually means something, are more likely to be able to endure any current challenges. When times are good, the "whys" really make a difference too in terms of fulfilling potential. However, the "whys" right now really need to be present. Do you see the right kind of people?

Who's seeing beyond the current doom and gloom? Who's seeing only the doom and gloom?

Who's going to be making sure that you manage the current climate more effectively than everybody else in your sector by doing 'almost any how'? And who's giving in and just waiting for the inevitable failure, because they have no clear why that actually means anything to them?

Character and attitude are going to be crucial for the next few months. As has been oft observed, attitudes are contagious. Make sure that the negative attitudes, let loose with no "why" to guide them don't become the contagious ones in your world. Be brave on leading with attitude and strong character traits and see who else is going to help deliver an important "why".

Confidence is everything...

We like Simon Barnes in the Times quite a lot. Bloody clever bloke and he's welcome on PlanetK2 any time he likes! His latest musings on the role of confidence in the current financial climate take a break from his usual expert stuff on sport and nature notes, but he's on the money again. He got us thinking about a favourite topic... CONFIDENCE.

Confidence is one of those things that we talk endlessly about at K2: Robust confidence, rather than lots of confidence; being great at not losing it, rather than just having it; making it as strong as possible, rather than only thinking about it when it's gone missing; spreading epidemics of confidence, rather than just having your own confidence... and so the conversations go on.

Sports people tend to talk a lot about confidence and whether there's enough of it or not. Unfortunately, it seems the business world has turned into one of those pitiful football managers who claim in a lost voice, "all we need is a win to get our confidence back". Hogwash! All you need is to start understanding what confidence is, where it comes from and how to control it, and then you'll maximise your chances of winning again - never simply rely on a result to determine whether you think positively about yourself or not. Sure, exploit the feel good factor of getting a positive result, but never confuse success alone as a reason to up your confidence account.

The greatest sportsmen and women don't rely on results for their confidence - they work hard on knowing what is uniquely strong about their capabilities and capacities (regardless of result) and how to exploit those hard earned strengths in the heat of battle. Confidence is never something they have or do not have because the world around them has told them whether or not they should have it!

As soon as you relinquish the right to determine your own confidence in your ability to perform, then you probably don't deserve to be performing in that arena any longer. When the world around you has lost it's confidence in a set of arbitrary financial indicators, it's more vital than ever that you understand how to protect and exploit the confidence that you have in you.