Do Top Performers Know How They Do What They Do?

The question is, can you bring top performers together and do an in depth analysis how to become a top performer.  There are theories that suggest that because they do so many things unconsciously or without thinking that they really don’t know and it takes an outside observer.  The example is what happens when you ask a top tennis players how they position their feet to return a serve, they wouldn’t know.

This might have been true twenty or thirty years ago.  In sports at least, there is so much coaching and analysis that the elite players know everything about their game inside and out.  In golf, most teachers follow some portion of Ben Hogan’s five fundamentals of the modern swing.  You’d  have to consider Ben Hogan a top performer.

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Learning Can Be Uncomfortable Change

We were talking about this at lunch today.  People often give up on using correct technique too soon primarily because it’s uncomfortable.  It’s actually faster and easier to type with all ten fingers than just index figures or in today’s world, thumbs.  People can get really good with the hunt and peck system but it’s unlikely they will be great.  However, it takes time, practice and a lot of frustration to use proper technique.

So my advice is that in training people can only give up on the proper technique after they’ve mastered it.  For example, you can’t give up on the cold calling script until you’ve gotten appointments using it.

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Cold Enough Yet: Remember the year without summer?

This is the second year of record cold winters. New places are getting snow for the first time while others are getting their earliest snows on record. But it hasn’t gotten as bad as the year without summer. Good old 1816. In New England it snowed in June. They had frost at night through August.

Well maybe 1936 will return. The hottest year in the US in the modern era. On a nice summer day in Steele North Dakota, the temperatures topped off at 121 Degrees. Temperatures in Ontario were frequently 110 degrees.

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Remaking Education

I’ve been writing bits and pieces of things trying to come up with the right approach to a new book.  Here’s an interesting thought:

Imagine a different type of school.  Take away the boundaries and focus on getting results as quickly as possible.  Focus on how people actually achieve high levels of performance and not preserving or even improving the status quo.

Here’s the announcement on the first day of school:

“Welcome to your first day and the New School.  You are about to embark on a headlong journey to excellence.

As you’ve probably heard, we have only two courses out our school.  First, you’ll be taking communications.  You’ll start today and complete this course when you can effectively communicate with anyone about anything.

Second, you’ll be taking problem-solving.  You’re going to learn to solve problems big and small.  And of course, you’ll be asked to convince others that your solutions are correct.”

Our teaching method is simple.  We will be driving to our goal as fast as we can.  There won’t be any true and false tests, no multiple choice, no fill in the blanks.  We aren’t teaching test taking here.  We will be evaluating your performance by watching you work, listening to your presentations and reading what you write.

Good luck and let’s get going…thank you for your attention.”

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What’s a Blovel?

I’ve been considering writing new book. Maybe a sequel to Learning Paths. I’m also considering writing a novel. That’s when I came across the concept of writing a novel through blog posts. There is a whole online world of blog novels called Blovels. I haven’t read any of these novels yet but here’s a link to read a few. http://blovelspot.com/browse

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