focus at all on this internal invisible world it tends to be on visualisation or meditation techniques, or on making a person comfortable and happy so that their natural ability can express itself unhindered by negativity or upset. If, however, we go further than the superficial and seek to identify the unique wiring, we can very quickly uncover and understand the process that an individual uses time and time again to deliver results. And when we do a great deal of that, overwhelming randomness disappears and predictable, consistent process emerges from the chaos.
When we understand our innate patterns of behaviour and they are no longer confusing it becomes possible to turn on performance. Even if we find ourselves in a role or organisation we don't naturally fit into, this knowledge allows us to orchestrate and implement simple, practical bespoke solutions that can radically alter performance almost immediately.
I realise that's a bold claim, but this book seeks to back it up.
What I have found across over 3000 profiles of elite performers in sport and business is that they all have four or five behaviours that evolve as a result of their unique personality. And they use those same four or five behaviours consistently. The difference between mediocrity and stellar performance is that mediocre performers are not consciously aware of exactly what those behaviours are, so they either deploy them inconsistently or deploy them in a role or environment that doesn't need or value those particular behaviours. As a result, performance is at the mercy of chance: exactly the right combination of environment and behaviour, or the planets aligning at just the right moment! Sometimes it comes together as ‘fit' and it works, and sometimes it doesn't. Why do you think sport is riddled with superstition and weird pre-game rituals? Why are there players who only play in a certain pair of socks, or who only eat a certain food prior to a game, or who touch a ‘lucky' charm and turn anticlockwise three times before going on the field? They do it because they have absolutely no idea what makes the difference between them on a good day and them having a shocker!
The stars, on the other hand, know what their own particular behaviours are, or they innately know how to deploy them at the right time and in the right place most of the time. I'm not implying that superstars consciously understand the formula any better than the rest of us. Some definitely do, but for the most part it comes down to a subconscious understanding, or to consistent, dedicated practice that has hardwired it into their physiology. Either way, star performers just seem able to access their best, get into their groove and operate there most of the time. This book is about helping you to find your own groove so you can get better at everything.
UNDERSTANDING THE QUIRKS, IMPROVING PERFORMANCE
If you understand the quirks of your personality and learn to appreciate the process you have created to function in the world you can make little, almost imperceptible shifts that ensure you are in the right place. Collectively these shifts can have a profound impact on performance.
I worked with a Super Rugby side for many years. One of their key backline players was outstanding. But when I watched recordings of his games he would almost always do something off the wall in the second half of the game. I raised this issue with the coaching staff, and not only were they already aware of it – they already knew that it always occurred between the 48th and 62nd minute of the game!
Unfortunately, they had no idea what to do about it. They had tried to fix the behaviour using all the usual performance techniques, but nothing worked. So we all got together for a meeting. The player was asked if he was aware of the behaviour. ‘Not really', he replied. So he watched some video footage of his most impressive howlers and we asked him what was actually going through his mind in those moments. He thought for a while and said, ‘To be honest I think I just get bored'. He went on to explain that when this happens he feels the urge to mix things up a bit and try something new. Often he will make a crazy pass or try and kick 60 rows long (that is, kick 60 rows vertically up or down the pitch), causing havoc and often giving the opposition an opportunity to punish the experimentation. This type of long vertical kick usually resulted in the opposition regaining possession of the ball; maintaining possession and kicking horizontally to another teammate would have been a better and safer play.
We asked if he ever practised any of these crazy-arse moves in training. ‘Oh no, I just try them in the game!' So here we had a very talented, successful, highly paid professional rugby player who tried stuff he'd never tried before during critically important games – because he was bored! It was bonkers. Occasionally it would work and he would look like a genius, but most of the time it would backfire. When it went wrong he would lose confidence and overcompensate; he'd try even harder to fix it, which usually led to another, even crazier move and it would all turn to custard.
We didn't have time to work out why he got bored. We didn't need him to lie on a couch and discuss his childhood or what happened to his pet rabbit. We didn't need him to visualise successful outcomes to his crazy-arse moves. What we needed was a behavioural strategy that allowed him to better fit the team while working within his existing process to improve performance NOW.
When pressed, the player admitted that he was aware of when he was getting bored in a game, so all we did was ask him to shift his existing behaviour by a fraction: ‘Okay, so do you think that the next time you get bored that you could kick the ball 60 rows deep instead of 60 rows long?' In other words, could he kick the equivalent of 60 rows across the pitch rather than up or down the pitch? He looked at me, surprised. ‘What – that's all you want me to do?' ‘Yep – that's all.' A huge smile spread across his face and he said, ‘Sure, I can do that'.
And that's what he did. When he found himself getting bored he kicked 60 rows deep into the stand (putting the ball out and safe for the home team), which was sufficiently unusual and unexpected to get him re-engaged with the game but was not so unusual that he lost confidence or handed the opposition an opportunity to score.
It was simple. It was practical. And that single alteration extended his career by two years.
What we need to appreciate is that performance is performance, regardless of where it's deployed. So the thing that consistently derails your golf or tennis game or your performance on the basketball court or sports pitch is actually the same thing that derails your performance when you're seeking to meet sales targets, execute your chosen strategy or meet any of your personal or professional objectives.
We don't need performance coaches to unlock and foster talent in every separate area of our life. What we need is a genuine awareness and understanding of fit and the performance framework that lies beneath results. When we have this we can create behavioural strategies unique to each individual that come together to create high performance in anything.
If you already have the skill, ability and expertise, then consistently high performance is a tweak and a shift away. Major life-altering change is rarely required. The art of ‘intimate' and subtle change, awareness and adjustment within our own unique process is not acknowledged at all in modern performance improvement. What we have to understand is that there is not one approach to high performance in anything that works for everyone. But there is one single framework that, when understood and applied, will facilitate high performance in anything, and it works for everyone.
If you want to improve your performance you need to look beyond the convenient solutions and traditional approaches. You need to understand your favoured patterns of behaviour and foster enough behavioural flexibility to deploy the right behaviour in the right place.
This book is dedicated to that journey so that you can tap into your own brand of high performance. You might already be a star but don't know how to maintain consistency and improve over time. You might be managing a star but can't get the team to gel or can't seem to unlock consistent effort. Perhaps your performance has hit the dreaded plateau or started to diminish and you can't figure out why. Or perhaps you are an aspiring star who already has the skills, ability and expertise to fulfil your potential but don't know how
