Before I start, some disclaimers. I am a HUGE fan of Indian Cricket and I do not mean to justify, criticise the recent losses; but I am just reflecting on this interesting aspect that I think is related.
Peak performance is clearly when anyone is performing at the top of their form and is usually observed when it is relatively observed. I may be performing at my peak but that is visible to others when observed in a comparative context usually. Hence we speak of it in the context of sports, sportsmen and sportswomen, organisations (think Tesla, Microsoft, Amazon etc), appraisals etc
In this article I am going to reflect on peak performance of individuals. Continuing to use sports and in this article Indian Cricket but also being reflective of my experience in IT sector, I shall reflect on this aspect.
For the longest time, we have heard that excellence is about skill and hard work. I too fundamentally learnt it the hard way; that while we may have the skill, it does not matter unless it is combined with hard work. But does working hard or long hours all the time help? Let's ponder over that. The following are the critical aspects that I thought about:
- Practice/Hard Work: Well, very clearly peak performance is not achieved if hard work is not put in. Sachin Tendulkar has been one of the greats to play the game of cricket but he too put in 12 hours of training. Similarly in the corporate context, we have to put in the hours to train/work and eventually succeed. Yes, one can ease off as you grow older and you have a team, but training hard is the only way when you know what has to be done so that even when you lead people, you need to be able to provide instructions and directions all the time.
- Rests/Breaks: I have personally experienced that when I have a really long day with back to back calls, I get mentally fatigued. Why is that? Our mind and body is not a machine to continuously keep working at peak performance. We do need time too cool off, to take a break/vacation (equivalent of a service for the engine) to allow the engine in our brain to cool off and to get back charged and energised. Coming back to cricket, sure IPL is a great tournament and provides great grooming for our youngsters, but our senior players played non stop through IPL and the World Cup. Is that fair? Do they not deserve any rests or breaks? Eoin Morgan opted out of the practice match with India but we made our senior players play every single match. Too much of anything is clearly not good.
- Sleep: Well, we have 24 hours in a day. Greats create more hours in the same day. I was driven by this and hence I trained myself to sleep an exact 6 hours per day. I owe it to my boss Mohit who at one point, spoke to me about the importance of a good 7-8 hours of sleep and also recommended this book(Why we Sleep) which made be think deeper. Sleep is made for a reason and there are several Ted Talks which explain why we need a good night's sleep and yes not an exact 6 hours. Interestingly, my experience also tells me that our body knows when we are rested and one small advice would be that while you can set alarms, the body has a knack of telling you when you need more or less than that. Hence, as long as you are listening, you would know!
- Reflection: In today's competitive but creative world, thinking out of the box is critical. Archimedes had the "Eureka" or "Aha" moment when bathing. That is because while he was not at work, he was thinking. Why is it that most creative ideas too are known to come to us in the bathrooms/dreams etc. I think that is because at such times of unwinding, the clutter of other operational matters is not there and hence our minds are being able to think unconstrained and creatively.
- What not to do: I have been told several times, that strategy is about knowing what not to do. I have been thinking for some time and I have been telling my son, that Indian Cricket needs different captains for tests and one days/T20s. The formats are so different and hence while we may have legends and greats like Virat playing all formats, the captain of the ship needs to be thinking the format most times. Hence, I think we do need captains and may be coach/coaching staff being different for different formats. I am personally thrilled that Virat Kohli has decided to step down of captaincy and that is a win-win for all to get peak performance out
- Delegation: This is critical in my view especially in organisations. At different levels of seniority, peak performance collectively comes when you are able to decide what you need to do and what you need to delegate. What brought us here is not what may be required now or in the future. Hence, peak performance also means that we have to be able to decide what we need to and what we need to delegate. A leader though is one, who is able to coach others and also himself/herself on what can drive peak performance for themselves and their team members! A leader at peak performance is many team magnified by a leader at peak performance enabled by a team of players at their peak performance enabled 1 + 1 > 3!
Do let me know what you think of this topic and this article!
Transforming Talent, Leadership & Learning: Architect of Future-Ready Leaders, Innovation Advocate, Culture and Change Champion
3 年I am no expert on cricket but I think you have a point here. In my view, when a team of great individuals don’t do well, there are a few common threads that almost always emerge and India’s performance in the first 2 games is a reflection of the same 1. Without paying attention to the rumours, all that talk of the leadership (captaincy and coach) before the games couldn’t have been good for the team. 2. The team switched formats from Test to IPL to playing for the national colours without time for a mental transition and you are spot on about the fatigue. 3. To add to that, they played the first game against the arch rivals where it was almost thought that India was favourites. The pressure of the expectation complemented the pressure of the game. 4. The team response to the first loss almost looked like a knee jerk reaction where an established opener was not given the spot that he has performed so well at. 5. I remember days when I was watching cricket as a kid and we were the 5th or 6th ranked cricket team and there were matches against Australia, Pakistan, and South Africa, where no one gave us a chance. Things have changed….Today when India plays, we expect them to win. Sustained pressure can do strange things