7 Tips To World Class Performance

Where were you on 14 October 2012?

Chances are you can’t remember. Just another Sunday for me.

Far from routine for Felix Baumgartner however.

On this day Felix jumped from space to earth. On this day he broke not one, not two, but eight world records, in just 4 minutes and 19 seconds including:

• the highest skydive at an estimated altitude of 39km and greatest vertical freefall distance (over 36km before the parachute was deployed),
• the first person to break the sound barrier without the protection of propulsion of vehicular power reaching an estimated top speed of 1,357.64 km/h (843.6 mph) or Mach 1.25 (mock image below)
• the largest balloon ever flown (see diagram below) with a human aboard (29.47 million cubic feet), highest manned balloon ascent and fastest manned balloon overland speed (135.7 miles per hour).

What Felix achieved on that day is arguably and literally the highest level (in altitude) of human performance we have seen since Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon some 50 years ago.

All very interesting Rich but what can I learn about performance from a crazy Austrian daredevil? Well lots it turns out.

1)    World class performance takes time

Felix’s ‘jump from the edge of space’ marked the end of a seven year journey, five of which involved Felix in training to ensure both his survival and success. 

Bill Gates nailed this point when he famously said “most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in 10 years”. Malcolm Gladwell brought the 10,000 hours of practice to be an expert concept to the world. 

We know world class performance takes time, but we too often become impatient or frustrated and sadly give up before we achieve break thru.

Ronald Wayne is one of the best examples of this. Who you might ask? Exactly. Wayne was the third co-founder of Apple owning 10 percent of the company now would be worth over $60b. He couldn’t handle the other founders and sold his share for $800.

2)    World class performance takes timing

On numerous occasions tests leading up to the final jump were delayed. Even the final record breaking jump was delayed twice before the final launch from Roswell International Air Centre on 14 October.

Waiting till conditions are perfect is rarely an option but knowing which variables are mission critical and which are nice-to-haves is key. Overlooking the first can be fatal. Overfocusing on the second will kill your momentum.

As Dan Pink says in his latest book ‘When’

“timing isn’t everything but it sure is something”.

Often this is due to how the next two key points are perceived.

3)    World class performance takes risk

To use Rumsfield parlance with any form of high performance there are known knowns, known unknowns and unknowns unknowns, i.e. things known we know, things known we don’t know, and things we don’t know we don’t know.

In terms of Felix's jump scientists knew about the ‘Armstrong Limit’, i.e. the altitude above which body fluid including saliva, tears, and blood will begin to boil and no amount of inhaled oxygen administered by any means will support life. Felix’s jump was from around 20km above the Armstrong Limit.

Scientists however knew they didn’t know how the human body would respond to passing through the sound barrier (mock up below). No one had ever done this outside of a vehicle.

And everyone including Felix realised there was a whole lot about this jump that nobody could know till it was known, and by then it could be too late.

Risk however is the pathway to reward, not a reason to withdraw from the race.

4)    World class performance takes failure

To mitigate the risks above over the five years leading up to the final jump every variable was tested and retested multiple times. There were multiple unmanned balloon launches, some of which failed. During test runs there were also lapses in radio transmission and thermal challenges experienced. Felix himself did multiple test jumps at lower altitudes, and on multiple occasions jumps were delayed or aborted.

On the day itself Felix’s visor began fogging up before he jumped, he had issues with communications but worst of all at around he got caught in a death spiral about one minute into the freefall. Had it not been for the five years of prep that moment could have been his last.

Failing fast and learning from failure has become quite popular of late but not all failure is created equal. To be world class we need to differentiate between low quality failure (blameworthy) and high quality failure (praiseworthy) as described by HBR in their failure issue some years ago (see here).

5)    World class performance takes humility

Baumgartner broke many records that day but he pulled his shute after just 4 minutes 16 seconds. He had no reason to other than to preserve the record his mentor Joe Kittinger had set 50 years earlier for the longest freefall duration. Felix had achieved enough and honoured his mentor by this gesture (picture below of Felix and Joe as they take the jump 50 years apart).

6)    World class performance takes a team

Although Felix was very much by himself at 39km up he was far from alone. In his ear during the entire jump was Joe Kittinger and on the ground were another 300 people with clear roles and responsibilities for a successful jump. And over the five years of training there were more than 1000 people involved at a estimated cost in excess of $65m to make it all happen. 

If your job is independent and in a stable operating environment then high performance by yourself is possible. Think Da Vinci and Michaelangelo for world class performers in this context. Since the days of the Renaissance our lives have become increasingly interconnected and environments more ambiguous. In such times the isolated cases of high performance are increasingly rare.

7)    World class performance takes a dream

High performance is not possible without believing it is possible first.

Preparing to jump from the edge of space took 7 years but Felix had the dream of doing so from the age of 5 as reflected by this picture he drew as a child.

I don’t subscribe to the theory that you can become anything you dream of. That’s something cheesy parents tell their bubble wrapped kids.

However I am convinced that you can’t achieve anything unless you dream of it first. As the bumper sticker says... you must believe to receive.

Belief doesn't guarantee success but success is almost impossible without it.

The gap between average performance and world class performance so often comes down to what you believe.

10 questions worth asking yourself if your goal is to become world class in your field based on 'the jump from the edge of space'

1.     How clear is your world class aspiration or dream? Clarity precedes conviction.

2.     How long are you prepared to pursue your dream? Conviction precedes completion.

3.     How agile is your execution? You may need to wait for conditions to improve.

4.     What are your known knowns and known unknowns?

5.     What buffer have you got should you encounter unknown unknowns?

6.     How can you tell the difference between actual and perceived risk?

7.     How can you minimise the cost of failure and maximise the learning?

8.     What failures are acceptable/beneficial, which are unacceptable/lethal?

9.     Who do you need around you to ensure success and what’s in it for them?

10. Who has done something similar before that you can learn from? Get them in your ear!

Before we close I have one more question for you. Have you ever heard the name Alan Eustace?

My guess is no.

Alan Eustace (pictured below) jumped from 41.42 km just two years later breaking Felix’s altitude record. No one knows about that, which brings me to our final lesson we can learn from Felix about world class performance. If part of your objective is to inspire others then find a partner that can help you tell your story.

For Felix that was Redbull, one of the world’s highest profile marketing companies.

We’ve all heard the expression ‘no one remembers who came in second’. Felix and Redbull beg to differ.

My best to you in your pursuit to be world class. 

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Rich Hirst is a leadership, change and high performance psychologist. His insights are based on real world experiences from his work with 10,000+ leaders and over 1,000 CEOs, underpinned by his knowledge as an organisational psychologist and expertise as a change agent supporting organisations for more than 20 years going through major transformation.

For more information please go to www.richhirst.com or contact me via email on [email protected]. Please find below links to my previous monthly posts.

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