FEATURE simple assumption that more is better. Regardless of their company’ s audience, market share or employees’ circumstances, they believe in an operational model that strives to achieve more hours, more intensity and more focus.
In the short-term, this approach delivers results. Organisations see an increase in outputs, with deadlines being met and performance appears to improve. However, over time, the system begins to break down.
Scientific research into performance shows that it is not a function that happens through sheer effort. It depends on the balance between stress and recovery. When that balance is lost, performance can deteriorate. In other words, burnout is not an inevitable consequence of ambition. It is a design flaw.
Organisations often look to elite athletes as a model for high performance. But they tend to focus on what is visible from the outside. We often read about how the best runners, tennis players and golfers put in hours of practice, as a testament to their discipline, intensity and relentless work ethic.
What businesses miss when making a comparison to how elite athletes operate is what sustains performance. Athletes do not train at maximum intensity all the time. Their performance is carefully structured around cycles of stress and recovery. Training programmes are designed not only to push limits, but to allow the body and mind to adapt, rebuild and improve.
In business, the opposite is often true. It is far too common for organisations to operate in a constant state of urgency, with little regard for recovery. The result
Adolfo Gomez Sanchez, CEO, GOLD Results www. intelligentcxo. com
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