Narratives of Excellence
I found last week a fascinating one in regards to engaging conversations and online content. The theme that emerged centred around prevailing and alternative narratives of excellence - of an individual or team, in the present or on the developmental journey.
In the last couple of years I’ve enjoyed learning about the power and influence of narrative in both sustaining and shifting culture. Scratching the surface of Sociology, Anthropology and Ethnography has broadened my thinking, whilst also creating the “scary and exciting” (hat tip AG’s son Noah) realisation that I know very little!
The idea of prevailing and alternative narratives in sport is framed well in the video below and makes a good starting point for this post…
Whilst Kitrina reminds us that Discovery and Relational narratives are as meritourious in the pursuit of excellence as the Performance discourse, in this article the brilliant Ed Smith hones in on the professional sport practice environment, challenging existing narratives whilst suggesting a place for “serious play” and uncertainty…
“If you’re really serious about winning, I eventually realised, you should adopt an equally serious commitment to play”
“A lack of playfulness is also a failure of professionalism”
“It is a mistake to think that good preparation requires the elimination of uncertainty. Quite the reverse. The art of preparing a team - or any group of performers - rests on the right blend of routine and unfamiliarity”
Ed’s thoughts triggered recollection of All Blacks coach Steve Hansen’s views on the importance of finding the right balance between performance, learning and fun.
One of the few organisations that could be spoken of as highly as the AB’s is the San Antonio Spurs and their coach Gregg Popovich. “Pop” was recently asked about the qualities the Spurs looks for in the players and staff they allow into their environment of excellence. Amongst many insights, the quote that most challenged past and present narratives regarding coaching was this…
“you have to feel comfortable in your own skin that you don’t have all the answers”
I feel this is the mindset/attitude required for someone to become/stay a “learner”. However, of the people who make decisions on coaching appointments, I’m not sure many are tuned in to this narrative - more likely one that expects coaches to be all-knowing fonts of wisdom. Popovich’s comment also resonates with me due to an encounter I had last year with María Ruiz de Oña, the Psychologist and Elite Professional Coach Developer at Athletic Bilbao. She spoke about Developing World Class Potential and emphasised…
“we need doubt….it makes us think”
Finally for the week, a most fascinating post on Google’s quest to understand the dynamics involved in achieving excellence as a team. Amongst their not-so-surprising findings were that traditional profiling measures lead to dead ends, along with “collective intelligence” being an emergent property that was different (potentially higher or lower) than the sum of the individual intelligence in the team. So what is important? One of their key findings suggested a “psychologically safe” dynamic as highly and positively influential. This was brought to life by a story regarding a manager having the courage to be extremely vulnerable with his staff and the impact it had.
At various times, including as recently as our first #relearn event, I have been involved in groups that have been prepared to be open and vulnerable. Whilst slightly uncomfortable, it creates a level of connection that can pave the way for collective excellence. Contrast this with the more masculine narrative of sport where it is purported a “stiff upper lip” must be maintained at all times whilst acting “professionally”. Being vulnerable demands a different type of courage, one more akin to its original definition derived from the latin term ‘coeur’…
“to tell the story of who you are with your whole heart”
The Common Thread…
Towards the end of the week it occured to me the common thread running through the above could be described as “counter-narrative”. They each tell a story that contrasts, in some cases sharply, with much of the received wisdom regarding striving/achieving excellence in sport and other settings.
So should we make a polaric shift to the approaches suggested by these “counter-narratives”? I’m not convinced that is the best conclusion to draw either. In the uncertain and complex space that excellence resides within, dichotomies and polarised views are often false and rarely helpful. Instead we might consider how amplifying these counter-narratives could help to shift the narrative “slider” to more central spaces on various continuum, something like the below…
With this in mind, decision making and action for the purpose of amplification (and dampening) of narrative becomes a key skill for leaders*, particularly when operating in a distributed organisation or system. As Marcus Guest states….
“leaders must seek to better understand why the current narratives dominate and then act to shift the environment, making unproductive ones unsustainable. Yet this must be done authentically — seeking narratives already in the system and amplifying them. A discovery and amplification strategy supports growth of authentic counter-narratives that genuinely mobilise people”
To finish on the idea of both “scary and exciting”, I find it scary to consider the wasted potential (not to mention prospect of physical and emotional harm) of young people if some of these counter-narratives cannot be amplified. At the same time, it is tremendously exciting to consider the possibilities if they can be…
* to be clear, this is very different from “corporate storytelling”
