Reaching Stellar Performance Goals - In Sport and in Business

I've always been a sporty girl and with the fabulous Olympic Games in Paris now finished and the Paralympics about to start, I’m excited about admiring the determination and performances of these great sportsmen and women.

Below is an article I originally wrote in 2016 to celebrate the Rio Olympic Games, which I’ve updated … just a little.

As we watch the games as they’re televised around the world (or in my lucky case at a couple of events in Paris), let’s keep in mind the incredible determination and daily routines of practice, behavior, dedication, and passion with which these sports people have prepared their ticket to success.

As we know, the Olympics were invented by the ancient Greeks around 776 BC. The modern Olympics were revived by a French aristocrat, Coubertin, in 1896 with his vision of building a better world by educating young people through the values of sport. I’m glad that 100 years after the last Olympic Games in Paris in 1924, we’re seeing them again here, even though the French lobby for “boules” becoming an official Olympic discipline did not quite pay off.

The Olympic Games have evolved since 1896, admitting more disciplines, more countries and even women! Female participants were first allowed to compete in the Paris games in 1900 when just 2% of participants were women compared to 44% in the 2012 London games. Paris 2024 marks the first time in the history of the Olympic games where there is a 50/50 representation of men and women - bravo ladies and I wish you great success!!?

Whilst individual stellar sport performances have always captivated our imagination (Mark Spitz, Mohamed Ali, Nadia Comaneci, Michael Phelps, Sebastian Coe, Usain Bolt, Marie-José Pérec, Laure Manaudou to name but a few), team sports earn our admiration for the magical synergy and euphoria of collective performance. The Rio games in 2016, for example, saw the introduction of Rugby 7 for the first time since Rugby was banned from the Olympics after the 1924 Games.

For those nations not familiar with the game, here’s an attempt to describe the rules in a nutshell. Rugby demonstrates the epitome of collective performance with core values comprised of teamwork, respect, discipline, and enjoyment.? Two opposing teams (usually 15 aside) each run forward in opposite directions, throwing backward a squashed-shaped ball. The aim is to run across the boundary line, and dive on the ball, thereby gaining points, called a “try”. The winning team is the one with the most points, boosted by throws through a high post to gain more points, called a "conversion". It’s easy peasy, eh? Yes, it could have only been invented by the Brits!

Although customer success has not yet been admitted as an Olympic discipline, the values it encourages in partnership with customers have all the above ingredients: a vision of success, an expected performance outcome, a plan of how to get there, cross-functional team spirit, discipline and determination to help drive and adopt new customer routines, behaviors and ultimately the celebration of success stories!

As part of my advisory approach to business transformations in which change management and customer success have an active role, I introduced in 2010 the A.M.P.M.? framework. This time, inspiration came from the ancient Romans: A.M. meaning, “ante meridian” (in other words before noon or morning for short) and P.M., meaning “post meridian” (afternoon for short). I revamped the original Roman phrasing with the more palatable Anglo-Saxon term:

Activity Measurement and Performance Measurement

The underlying idea is that in any transformation where greater performance and perceived value are the expected outcome (whether in business, sport, or whatever domain…) we simply can’t just come out tops and nail it without first putting in all the effort around different contributing activities. So the saying goes, no pain, no gain!?

So, whichever solution or service is being used to help achieve greater business performance and perceived value (however defined in each context),?a plan of disciplined preparation and contributing activities needs to be implemented, controlled, and measured. For the Paris games this summer,? participants have been carrying out such plans daily for years with blood, sweat and tears.

The A.M.P.M. ? framework can be applied to any solution and service and implies defining activity and performance indicators.

Activity indicators are considered as the pre-requisite measurements to control that the path towards the desired outcome is being paved. This implies new routines, behaviors, reflexes and adaptations to organization, processes and methods. It's no longer a question of doing business as usual but moving out of a known comfort zone and adopting new ways of working. It’s not just about using a new tool!

For sports people, activity measurements can correspond to measuring the evolution or maintenance of their physical form, aptitude and mental state, e.g. number of practice hours per day, amount of sleep, number of kilos gained or lost in weight, etc. For ancient Greek athletes (they were all male by the way), this also meant keeping their bodies in pristine shape to show off their magnificent muscles to their opponents as a KPI of superiority!

Performance indicators measure the improvement in expected outcomes as they are achieved. For sports people, this is, for example, the reduction in seconds for track races, the number of goals scored, the number of medals won, or the number of world records broken.?

The table below shows just some non-exhaustive examples of A.M.P.M ? indicators which can typically be used to measure activity and performance in business context examples. Depending on the context, tool type and expected business outcomes, the A.M.P.M. ? indicators are adapted over time during the customer lifecycle. The tool impact can then be more easily measured thanks to the analysis of the activity and performance measurements.

Whilst vision (dream of future performance) and determination (activities done to get there) are admirable for an individual sportsperson, when applying to a team, the effort is multiplied and accentuated by the added difficulty of getting everyone in sync. As we saw during the recent Euro football championship in Germany this July, although there is often great individual talent, if the team as a whole is out of sync, then collective success is not always au rendez-vous!

The A.M.P.M. ? can be applied to collective business team efforts and performance. It’s interesting to detect any weak links which could potentially put collective performance at risk. Corresponding individual action plans can then be anticipated and addressed.

These A.M.P.M. ? indicators are tangible measurements. The impetus for fabulous team performance comes from the top-down: sharing the vision of success, knowing how to drive a plan and creating collective momentum to sustain the activities that pave the way for collective team performance.

I dedicate this blog to all the Paris 2024 Olympic sports people as well as to all those embracing their next business transformation challenges. May the best sports performers earn their place on the Olympic podium and the best transformers on the business podium!

Just as a quote from the greatest :

I hated every minute of training, but I said, don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion."? Mohamed Ali

Below is an inspirational video of some great sports heroes to exemplify all this and keep alight the Olympic flame. Although it’s over 10 years old, it is a tribute to some all-time sporting heroes who have demonstrated the A.M.P.M. approach in pursuit of their dreams for success.?

Enjoy and let's imagine what would happen if each of us displayed this kind of passion and determination to perform better collectively in sports, customer success, and life – every day!

Vive Les Jeux Olympiques et Paralympics de Paris 2024!

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View here the 5-minute sports champions inspirational video ??