More difficult to spot than a gorilla on a basketball court!
Sport, more than business, provides such visceral lessons from which we can all learn.
This week I have been watching the World Athletics Champs from Budapest and a number of examples caught my eye and made me think about how I do business.
And the great thing – these are actionable take-aways for us all.
Missing those important details.
A big part of what we attend to, i.e., where our attention is, day in day out, is something I talk of regularly with clients and colleagues, and I have to admit I fell foul of not maintaining situation awareness during the Women’s 100 metre final on Monday night.
The centre lanes were held by the Jamaican pair of Shericka Jackson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce- probably the favourites for the title. They wore their easily-seen gold, green and black Jamaican kit. Sha’Carri Richardson, the US athlete who had qualified as a fastest loser after a poor semi-final was out in lane 9. Richardson was closest to the crowd and at the bottom of the TV screen for those watching.
The gun fired and they were off. The race was being dominated by the Jamaican pair. Fraser-Pryce had a great start but so did Jackson. Fraser-Pryce, I thought would win at 60m, but Jackson gets up and wins the race!
Hang on! WTF? Where did Richardson come from? How did she win?
More difficult to spot than a gorilla on a basketball court!
There is a famous and often copied video that asks viewers to count how many times a team of basketball players passes the ball between them. Watch the video and it is not difficult to get it right. However, many – if not most – people miss the fact that a person in a gorilla suit walks across the screen, through the players, bangs their fists on their chest, and walks off screen.
This is a classic study in attention and provides insights into our strengths and weaknesses as humans and is massively important when considering how I missed Sha’Carri Richardson in this race.
When I considered my complete failure to spot Richardson, a number of factors came to mind.
1.?????Richardson had a poor start in the semi-final, so I had probably dismissed her chances for the final. This was the first Global final she has qualified for, which added to me dismissing her chances.
2.?????She was on the periphery of the screen, with a battle going on between 2 Jamaicans who appeared to be pulling away from everyone else.
3.?????The US kit colours are quite similar to the track, so Richardson blended in slightly with the background.
Here is the video for you to consider for yourself – and note that it wasn’t just me, but the commentator completely missed her as well!
Being able to spot a gorilla walk across a basketball court – or spot Richardson leading the race – is a critical skill necessary for more than just commentators.
In my field – in your field – if we focus our attention too much at a particular time, then we can lose situation awareness of the bigger picture.
Performance under pressure – I am back watching the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics!
In the 1984 Losa Angeles Olympics Decathlon, Daley Thomspon, the World champion, reigning Olympic champion and simply the best in the world leads the Decathlon after 6 events. The event is held over 2 days with 5 events each day. The Discus is the 7th event.
Each athlete has 3 throws to achieve the furthest distance, and after Thomspon’s first 2 throws, he has failed to achieve any distance because of 2 foul throws. Daley Thompson is on the brink of losing his Olympic title.
As Thomspon enters the circle, he looks the same as his first 2 attempts. The pressure on him must be immense. He only needs a safe throw – get a half-decent distance and he would still win the event.
Daley Thompson throws a personal best with his 3rd throw.
When stood upon a razor’s edge – he performs beyond a level he has ever achieved before!
领英推荐
Fast forward 39 years…
An hour or so before the 100 metre final, I had watched the closing throws in the Men’s Discuss. The way field events work, all athletes throw 3 times in a set order. After these, the top 8 athletes are ranked 1-8, with the 8th athlete going first and the top athlete going last. Irrespective of follow-on throws, athletes maintain this order.
For the next 2 throws (4th and 5th), the first and second placed athletes remain in the same position. With the penultimate throw, Kristjan Ceh (Slovenia), throws 70.02 metres – taking him ahead of Daniel Stahl (Sweden).
Whilst not in such a precarious position of Daley Thompson 39 years before, Stahl has just lost the Gold medal, and has just one throw left to take it back.
Stahl enters the circle, spins and throws.
71.46 metres. A new Championship Record!
Whilst not Stahl’s personal best, he has thrown further only once before – and never under so much pressure.
Combining these lessons from Week 1 in Budapest
If we start with Stahl’s performance first, it provides a great insight into how people can perform under pressure. In their excellent book, Dr. Hendrie Weisinger and JP Pawliw-Fry review the evidence on how to perform under pressure, and propose lots of actionable practices to help protect yourself from the negative impacts of pressure.
Whilst, I do not know how Stahl was dealing with the pressure, I am certain he and his team will have practiced for this eventuality. They would know what to do and how to respond.
And, boy, did he respond!
Without significant practice, pressure will almost certainly (Weisinger and Pawliw-Fry are more definitive in stating certainly, without exception) reduce performance, so imagine trying to undertake an activity that needs us to spot the number of basketball passes under pressure. How much less likely is it that we will spot the gorilla?
Why this is relevant for us all.
-???????Imagine you focus on one of your competitors and take your eyes off others. Have a look back at Sharicka Jackson in the video. She only looks across to Richardson at the end. Did she see her, or was she solely focussed on Fraser-Pryce?
-???????Imagine you are focussing on the child at the side of the road when driving to work and miss the elderly person stepping on to the crossing in front of you.
-???????Imagine your mind is on the tight deadline to deliver a project for your line manager and then completely miss to pick up on a team member’s distress during a 1-2-1.
Each of these situations place us in a losing position because our focused attention significantly reduces our overall situation awareness. And the stakes are high when this happens!
Only practice and conscious focus will help develop in this area
Let’s face it, we will only get so far by ourselves, and sooner or later we need some support in areas such as these. That may be from watching TED Talks, it may be from reading or listening to podcasts. It could be from coaching.
Take control and make the choice.
If you have read enough books and watched enough TED Talks, let’s talk about what the future could like.
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Tim Artus