Achieving under Pressure – Lessons from High Performance

Environments

Professor Dave Collins PhD CPsychol. CSci. FSMA

P2E Associates

Part 1: Tuning your engine

Natural Rhythms & Nutrition

Rhythms- Natural and Not So Natural!

 

   

SNAPSHOT 1TLX Total=101Cortisol=380Hydration OK

SNAPSHOT 2TLX Total=167Cortisol=585Hydration OK

SNAPSHOT 3TLX Total=103Cortisol=350Hydration OK

Daily Peaks and Troughs

Natural peaks and troughs14.00 and 19.00 slumps

Engineered peaks and troughsChange of activity

The 90 minute barrier

Meaningful breaksThe fag Break AdvantageSnacks, drinks and walks

Drinking for Performance

Hydration 1.5-2 Litres per day (12 glasses of water!) >1% Bodyweight loss impacts mood, anger control,

balance and cognitive function >2% can lead to 20% drop in performance (Sharma et al., 1986. Ergonomics, 29(6),

791-799) 3% is not unusual

SOME other drinks are OK Resist the Volvic Challenge Watch your total caffiene

Eating for Performance

AVOID THE SUGAR RUSHChocoholics and biscuit fiends beware

GRAZING Little and often (helps weight management too) Eat early (Breakfast crucial)

BALANCEComplex carbs for energy, protein to maintain ‘balance’

Avoid the “Eat and run” effect

AD

AP

TIV

E A

BIL

ITY

ALARM PHASE

SHOCK COUNTERSHOCK

STRESSOR

RESISTANCE PHASE

EXHAUSTION

GENERAL ADAPTATION SYNDROME (GAS)

TIME

PE

RF

OR

MA

NC

E

O

-

+

TIME

THEORETICAL ASPECTS: DELAYED ADAPTATION TO AN EXERCISE

STIMULUS (YAKOLEV 1965; 1977)

1 22

33

44

1 IMMEDIATE RESPONSE (FATIGUE?)

2 RECOVERY

3 OVERCOMPENSATION

2 + 3 DELAYED TRAINING ADAPTATION

4 DETRAINING4 DETRAINING

STIMULUS

Normal periodisation of training

T i m e

Over-reaching (

Overtraining Syndrome

Pe

rf

or

ma

nc

e

STRESS IMPACTSExtreme stress can result in

breakdownImpacts immune system –

frequent minor infectionsImpacts motor control system

– clumsiness and injury rateAffects mood, sleep, libido,

stiffness, libido, vigour, libido, appetite, libido, sweat rate, libido etc.

So remember….

STRESS IS ADDITIVE AND NON-SPECIFIC IN ITS IMPACT

EXTRAS FOR THE BUSINESS SETTING

The magnifying effect of a “small” problem

IMAGINE ..You are a high speed computer, one of the best around. Any problem (e.g. A ‘hassle’) uses up working capacity and slows you down.You need to work harder to get the same result.

BUT…You are a person, better than a computer! The problem slows you down…and (being human) you also WORRY about the problem.

For every one unit that a computer would lose, the effect is often TRIPLED because of our tendency to ruminate.

The “Frazzle Factor”Daily hassles and Under-

Recovery

MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT SUN

Your OWN Support PlanEat, drink and be recovered!Micro, meso and macro cycle impacts

Control the controllables An emphasis on eliminating daily hassles “I’m just a boy who can’t say…..” Managing up – Negotiate time blocks Managing down – Red Flags and ZULU

adjustmentsPlanning and using work blocks Proactive variation and reactive recovery Time to recover/Time to prime

Just like the athletes – “LISTEN TO YOUR BODY”

Part 2: Changing the Arena

Accentuating positives VERSUS ENSURING positives and minimising

negatives

Enduring PrinciplesWhat generates performance?

0

20

40

60

80

Actual Performance

Lennox HassamSomethingorother

Product losses

Human Assumptions on Progress

We ‘assume’ that we are in controlDenver International airport (16 months

late,300% over budget)Eurofighter jet (5 years late, $25 billion

above predicted cost) Scottish Parliament building (3 years late,

projected £35million actual £414 million)The Sydney opera house (a scaled down

version completed 10 years late, with estimated costs of $7 million eventually amounting to $102 million

Human Assumptions on Progress

We ‘know’ that we will make itWhen asked to predict completion date for their

honours thesis ‘if everything went as poorly as it possibly could’, students significantly underestimate by up to 50% (Buehler et al 1994)

Predictions based on realistic ‘best guess’ scenarios or hoped-for ‘best case’ scenarios, produce indistinguishable results (Newby-Clark et al, 2000)

20 year study of 284 ‘prediction experts’ suggest accuracy < 14%...”no better than dart throwing chimps” (Tetlock, 2005)

Because MOST of us don’t.....

Refine plans, estimates, etc. as we go (Hedgehogs V Foxes – Tetlock, 2005)

Audit thinking in slower time – we like and are attracted to ‘decisive answer-rers’

“our brains are made for fitness, not for truth” (Pinker 1997)

Self-critique dispassionately and in an unbiased manner

“when faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof” (Galbraith 2002)

We are built with.....•A strong preference for simplicity•An aversion to ambiguity and dissonance•A deep-rooted need to believe we live in an

orderly world•A lack of appreciation of the laws of chance

As a result, for example.....•44,000 and 94,000 patients die each year as a result of

medical error in U.S hospitals (IOM 1999) •major causes of medical decision making error

identified as physician’s lack of competency in probabilistic reasoning (Patel, 2000).

Why is this SO relevant now?Thinking space is decreased by acute

and chronic pressureThis just accentuates our natural tendencies

Under pressure, we tend to ignore blocks and ‘focus on the wins’

We hope for positives and “la-la” the negatives

Under pressure, working on detail makes us comfortable

We micromanage at the edge of oblivion

SO to stay on track...Plan when you can

‘Deliberate planning’ is a luxury to be exploited

Schedule and adhere to DM auditsLook at and solve what

stops you achieving Switch focus

Trees, castle, trees, swamp

(Adapted from Foster (1998), MSSE, 30, 1164-1168)

Measuring Workload

The NASA TLXDeveloped to identify the sources of

workload under various conditions and between individuals

Tells you where the pressure comes from

Provides a numeric value so sources can be compared and interventions evaluated

Can give surprising answerse.g. Surgeons

WORKLOAD FACTORS

PHYSICAL

TIME PRESSURE

OWNPERFORMANCE

FRUSTRATION

MENTALEFFORT

MENTALDEMAND

NASATASK LOAD

INDEX

Using workload – Rev-ving slower

Decrease un-useful effortFocus your use of ‘consultants’

The Priority GameIf everything IS urgent then….?!Some “urgents” are more urgent than

others!!!Rules of prioritisation

Cost of a cock upCan someone else cover it (parts of it)?Who’s agenda?

Stress effects – The Take Home Messages

Stress has positive and negative effectsEffects are differential relating to nature

of the task, personality, arousal level, etc.Distractions can help and hinder

How can you use them positively?Can you reduce mental workload for

certain tasks by ‘stress innoculation’?

The Cumulative Effects of Worry

Worry – Fatigue – Worry cycleRaised Cortisol levels

Change in Focus

Under-recoveryStart the next day/week/month

knackeredFatigue – Worry - Fatigue

Impact of an Over-revving Work Style

EMOTIONAL :

My interpersonal behaviour

MENTAL WORKLOAD

How hard I’m working

AFFECT:

How I feel in the evening

SHORT TERM

(daily hassle) “tetchy, on edge” Works harder to get same result

Tired, everything feels difficult

MEDIUM TERM

(nagging worry) “Distracted, moody”

Distraction – starting to be less able to concentrate on normally easy tasks, drives self harder

Starting to use coping resources e.g. eat less, low or extremely variable blood sugar so fatigued at end of the day

LONG TERM

(is this something serious?)

“damaged goods”

“a martyr to XXXX”

“Like walking through treacle”

Unable to perform to acceptable standard

Exhausted, feeling helpless, victim. Low self-efficacy.

Your OWN Optimum Work ArenaWork on increasing potential AND

eliminating product losses “Think about balance, timing and process”

Counter ‘natural’ assumptions and stylesPlan when you can

Consider a VARIED work styleVariation is less stressful AND more efficientVariation can be achieved with consistent

TOTAL workload It ‘feels funny’ as routine is comfortable

Measure and reduce mental workload

Just like the elite team players – “ALWAYS PLAY AT HOME”