high-performance
sport can be amazingly exciting when
it’s about you
Angela I’ve been involved with nine
Olympics in three countries as a cyclist
coach scientists and a manager at
high-performance sport when it’s about
human potential draws us in and what can
we learn from the best performers for us
as high performance difference-makers my
job is to lead the collection and the
analysis of the story of how New
Zealand’s best athletes coaches managers
doctors and physios prepare for big
events olympic games call both games
Winter Olympics Paralympics World Cups
and World Championships and when you
look at a photograph of an Olympic team
there’s more than just the face as you
can see they’ve been mentored guided for
years and they actually represent every
team that’s come before them it’s like a
firm and the story of them intertwines
with everyone else and so we record this
story and it’s a very New Zealand thing
to do and though other countries doing
this and we identify what they do well
is what they say they failed at what
they succeeded at and we give it back to
them so they can learn and why is
learning important because in high
performance it’s become far more
competitive it’s harder to achieve a
victory at the top more countries are
focusing on one event and an athlete can
move from a novice to a repeat medalist
in four years that’s fast and then they
only last four years that’s their life
span so that’s short so they’re in a
hurry so the more they can learn from
everybody else as a record the better
their chances and that’s what we do
so we have a thousand people in the
database and we’re connected to the
Dunedin study so we thought we’re gonna
target the best in the game at this and
mirror it so we have a thousand people
over 16 years 100 international events
and when we add up everything they say
there are 63,000 things so you can
imagine a cloud of things 63,000 things
got their attention so with sport does a
day at a time
you can’t delay you have to arrive on
time so where you pay attention is your
fuel times your fuel that’s all you’ve
got
so for 63,000 things what really counts
can’t all count so when we divide it up
into performance and we look 9 to 16 in
the world they talk about the most top
eight the ring narrows medalist narrows
again repeat medalists very tight they
know what matters they figured it out
that’s all they do and it’s not about
taking the ring and giving it to this
group because that’s not learning that’s
a cut and paste so it’s about increasing
the acceleration of the ring they’re
exactly where they need to be everyone
is where they need to be it’s just
helping them accelerate to the center
point and what really matters so if we
look say repeat medalists and there’s 75
of them in the database there’s 400
medalists 150 of one top medals in 75 on
top medals at big games and repeatedly
they have a system and so what’s in
their circle what can we learn from
what’s inside the circle and there’s
seven things seven learning areas that
they have developed and learned and when
we look at the others they’re there as
well
there’s just giant stuff in each of
those seven they’ve narrowed it down
and what are they the first is their
environment everything going on around
them their family their friends the
social media their car all that other
stuff it’s simple it works and they’re
okay with what they can’t control
they have routines they’re not trying to
innovate every angle there is they’ve
got routines and they keep them rolling
and where they’re innovating is
polishing and sandpapering the edges
they’re not alone
a third learned behavior there is no
repeat medalist along they’ve got a
coach and will explain why they have a
coach but they have proven support team
around them the competition measures is
another one high bar and they’re always
lifting the bar every time they achieve
you’ll hear the interview is not quite
satisfied not bad yeah we did the job
but they’re looking for the next one
it’s their mindset a little bit better a
little bit higher how much potential do
I have inside of me and the event
they’re going to they know there’s not
hopes and dreams and yeah I know the day
another time I’m fine
there is repeated rehearsal scenario
planning they know exactly what they’re
walking into no surprises and the last
two of those seven are about them they
are healthy and uninjured more often
than everybody else
that sounds pretty basic in sport but
the majority can overdo it over train
you may know people it’s easy to do that
but what they’ve learned is what works
for them my boundaries and they stay
within their boundaries so that means
they have fewer days off training
whereas others you add it up probably
10% undercooked and the final one you
hear the theme through the story is
learning they have learned how to become
learners not just athletes and not just
coaches they are learners they’ve
learned how to learn and we’ll talk
about that
if you look at one repeat medalist
compared to the next compared to the
next you see the seven but you don’t see
the same things in the seven so as we
said it’s not a cut and paste it’s a cut
edit paste and the best in the world are
not superheroes despite what it looks
like when they’re interviewed and they
make it sound like it’s all come
together I knew exactly how it would
work it’s not like that it’s not like
that and you get them beforehand and you
realize it’s not like that when the
story’s played out it looks like I
figured it all out before but no they’ve
taken a step based on their best
decision in another step but they know
exactly what direction they’re heading
in and the best performers have mastered
what works for them that’s why they’re
high performers they figured this out
they’ve personalized it same with a
coach same with all the support and the
seven work for them and it’ll work for
nobody else so looking at what you do
and how you’re living what’s inside the
really narrow ring what’s in there for
you
let’s look at how they do this how do
they move through this period of not
quite knowing what I’m doing to knowing
exactly what I’m doing and there’s five
stages they work through this is proven
in medicine military Dreyfus brothers
and Anders Ericsson are the two with
giant research backgrounds in these
areas and so a psyche a sport example
would be first off you’ve got an
exercise do your arms do your legs do
your back and it’s the next level you
start to connect athlete starts to
figure out oh yeah I know that’s lower
body and this is upper body and then I
do some endurance and the next level
there’s a system starting develop
they’re thinking about oh i need
nutrition my sleeps got to work now and
they start to turn this into an
ecosystem the next two levels are where
the best in the world operate they
tinker and redefine so they’re beyond
just accepting a system and going
through the motions they’re tailoring it
to themself and they are completely
redefining the area and based on what
works for them that’s how they redefine
and how does this happen it comes
through coaching this is the story that
we’re we’re told out of all these people
a coach is a key key person there’s no
repeat medalist without a coach and the
reason is like a great teacher they
point things out you would otherwise not
notice because all of you all of us all
of them are basically a blue dot on a
blue wall you cannot see the system
you’re in because you’re in it you’re
too busy getting on with stuff and they
are too busy getting on with stuff to
step back and have a look at is this the
right stuff and the coach plays things
back have you noticed you might want to
try this and oh it makes sense as soon
as you hear it but you’re not always
paying attention to everything because
you’ve got to keep moving and what are
they looking for what kind of things two
coaches and athletes talk about the
analogy is like an iceberg so on top
you’ve got the beautiful white floaty
bit
small but you know the powers under the
water everything that’s holding that
little bit up is under here this is the
stuff you can see things like an event
like this you can see it there’s a
pattern of things patterns of behavior
patterns of events that you can see how
many times this has happened and I eat
like this and every so often my
nutrition goes kaput –n yeah i figured
out all right it’s the pattern that most
of the new athletes new coaches are
they’re dealing with what they can see
fixing things making problems go away
sorting out what they can already see
the next level the ones really trying to
redefine and tailor are under the ocean
under there is the system that creates
this and the thinking that creates the
system so two analogies just to paint
the picture for you TEDx so here’s an
event and we’re all here and there’s a
pattern and you may have been to other
TEDx events before other things like
this and you may be going to the future
future events and that that’s it that’s
where the visible is underneath that
you’ll notice once it’s pointed out but
you haven’t been as we’ve been you’ve
been listening some great sessions is we
built walls that work the building’s not
shaking it’s not collapsing around us
the ceilings here we know where we are
you knew the map the roads work your
transport worked
you knew what the schedule was the
organizers have sorted at our system
we’ve been briefed you know why you’re
here and how you got here there’s a
whole system and change any of that
this may not happen above the water
then there’s the thinking why did you
step into that system well what about
this talk has triggered some interest in
you do you know somebody is there a
burning passion you’ve got thinking
drives a system you walk into or create
which creates what you can see and the
best coaches and best athletes are under
here they’re under the sea and so in
your life is your achieving your own
potential what’s under the sea for you
what kind of things are you paying
attention to in the system the structure
and the thinking and how you go about
what you do these repeat medalists have
done one other thing because we’ve
talked about the preparation but they
have performed so at the end they’ve
finished something they’ve stood out
there and even if they’re in a team they
are basically alone when the ball comes
to them there is nobody else so they
have delivered when the pressure was on
they’ve put it out and done it and
there’s a difference between the repeat
medalists and the newcomers in the
performance spectrum so in sport we
analyze the preparation we analyze the
performance those two things and how do
we optimize them so a beginner can
Experian produce when they’ve
experienced it being there and done that
the next level athlete or coach can
perform when they’ve either experienced
or considered it so they’ve talked about
it they’ve planned it I’ve never raced
in Lane eight with all that chopped and
that crosswind but what we talked about
it so I’m good I got selected for Lane
eight it’s fine the next level is in
what’s called flow they are completely
absorbed in the world in reality they’re
not thinking their way through this
anymore they’re beyond they’re into
creative reflex they navigate whatever
comes toward them no resistance
navigating whatever comes toward them
you’ll have seen this in some of the
sport events the ones that really touch
you deep inside you can see wow this
person somewhere else and they’re really
connected they’ve learned to do that
this is not some boring thing champions
are born and then made there’s a
combination and they’re born with
exactly what we’ve got but then they
make with what they’re made with my
drysdale won a bronze at the Olympics
and he had a really bad flu such a flu
they thought he was gonna pull out you
want a bronze they interviewed him
afterwards and they said well I guess
next Olympics you’re gonna be healthy
and he said no that doesn’t matter
next Olympics I’m gonna have trained so
hard I can
when I’m sick so his attitude is
completely different navigating so how
do they pull it together what’s the
final picture what’s under the sea of
how they pull this together the great
performance with a great preparation
what’s their thinking look like what is
all this story that we’ve recorded tell
us about their their thinking and they
see the world in two basic parts vision
this is what I want to create and
current reality this is where I am you
think well that’s not rocket science
isn’t that how everybody thinks but most
focus and the newcomer athletes and then
novice focus up here at the vision being
crystal clear on the vision I can see it
I can feel it I’m energized by it here
it is I’m gonna get there I am gonna get
there but down here is current reality
in the some things that are really
uncomfortable about current reality and
these repeat top performers don’t dwell
down here try to lift it up it needs to
be exactly what it is I can get here
from here but what’s the gap what’s the
true gap don’t tell me I’m a little bit
faster than I really am that I believe a
little bit more than I really do that
I’m a little bit better than I really am
I am what I am and here it is because I
am NOT here to fix this I’m here to
create this so they look at this gap in
perfect truthfulness and despite what it
looks like they don’t have consistent
self belief consistent positive messages
there’s a whole lot of just humaneness
in how they go about what they do but
what they don’t do is pretend
something’s different down here occur
reality they don’t try to fix here they
live in creating here so what have we
learned from the overall story they have
a structure to their learning they’ve
trained themselves on how to learn they
focus on creation not fixing
and as they go on to achieve their own
personal excellence what really
surprised us is what they think of
themself doesn’t matter as much as what
we thought and what does this story what
parts of this story triggered your
thinking what resonates most with you as
you make a difference in your own life
and make a difference in your own work
thank you for your attention
[Applause]
sport can be amazingly exciting when
it’s about you
Angela I’ve been involved with nine
Olympics in three countries as a cyclist
coach scientists and a manager at
high-performance sport when it’s about
human potential draws us in and what can
we learn from the best performers for us
as high performance difference-makers my
job is to lead the collection and the
analysis of the story of how New
Zealand’s best athletes coaches managers
doctors and physios prepare for big
events olympic games call both games
Winter Olympics Paralympics World Cups
and World Championships and when you
look at a photograph of an Olympic team
there’s more than just the face as you
can see they’ve been mentored guided for
years and they actually represent every
team that’s come before them it’s like a
firm and the story of them intertwines
with everyone else and so we record this
story and it’s a very New Zealand thing
to do and though other countries doing
this and we identify what they do well
is what they say they failed at what
they succeeded at and we give it back to
them so they can learn and why is
learning important because in high
performance it’s become far more
competitive it’s harder to achieve a
victory at the top more countries are
focusing on one event and an athlete can
move from a novice to a repeat medalist
in four years that’s fast and then they
only last four years that’s their life
span so that’s short so they’re in a
hurry so the more they can learn from
everybody else as a record the better
their chances and that’s what we do
so we have a thousand people in the
database and we’re connected to the
Dunedin study so we thought we’re gonna
target the best in the game at this and
mirror it so we have a thousand people
over 16 years 100 international events
and when we add up everything they say
there are 63,000 things so you can
imagine a cloud of things 63,000 things
got their attention so with sport does a
day at a time
you can’t delay you have to arrive on
time so where you pay attention is your
fuel times your fuel that’s all you’ve
got
so for 63,000 things what really counts
can’t all count so when we divide it up
into performance and we look 9 to 16 in
the world they talk about the most top
eight the ring narrows medalist narrows
again repeat medalists very tight they
know what matters they figured it out
that’s all they do and it’s not about
taking the ring and giving it to this
group because that’s not learning that’s
a cut and paste so it’s about increasing
the acceleration of the ring they’re
exactly where they need to be everyone
is where they need to be it’s just
helping them accelerate to the center
point and what really matters so if we
look say repeat medalists and there’s 75
of them in the database there’s 400
medalists 150 of one top medals in 75 on
top medals at big games and repeatedly
they have a system and so what’s in
their circle what can we learn from
what’s inside the circle and there’s
seven things seven learning areas that
they have developed and learned and when
we look at the others they’re there as
well
there’s just giant stuff in each of
those seven they’ve narrowed it down
and what are they the first is their
environment everything going on around
them their family their friends the
social media their car all that other
stuff it’s simple it works and they’re
okay with what they can’t control
they have routines they’re not trying to
innovate every angle there is they’ve
got routines and they keep them rolling
and where they’re innovating is
polishing and sandpapering the edges
they’re not alone
a third learned behavior there is no
repeat medalist along they’ve got a
coach and will explain why they have a
coach but they have proven support team
around them the competition measures is
another one high bar and they’re always
lifting the bar every time they achieve
you’ll hear the interview is not quite
satisfied not bad yeah we did the job
but they’re looking for the next one
it’s their mindset a little bit better a
little bit higher how much potential do
I have inside of me and the event
they’re going to they know there’s not
hopes and dreams and yeah I know the day
another time I’m fine
there is repeated rehearsal scenario
planning they know exactly what they’re
walking into no surprises and the last
two of those seven are about them they
are healthy and uninjured more often
than everybody else
that sounds pretty basic in sport but
the majority can overdo it over train
you may know people it’s easy to do that
but what they’ve learned is what works
for them my boundaries and they stay
within their boundaries so that means
they have fewer days off training
whereas others you add it up probably
10% undercooked and the final one you
hear the theme through the story is
learning they have learned how to become
learners not just athletes and not just
coaches they are learners they’ve
learned how to learn and we’ll talk
about that
if you look at one repeat medalist
compared to the next compared to the
next you see the seven but you don’t see
the same things in the seven so as we
said it’s not a cut and paste it’s a cut
edit paste and the best in the world are
not superheroes despite what it looks
like when they’re interviewed and they
make it sound like it’s all come
together I knew exactly how it would
work it’s not like that it’s not like
that and you get them beforehand and you
realize it’s not like that when the
story’s played out it looks like I
figured it all out before but no they’ve
taken a step based on their best
decision in another step but they know
exactly what direction they’re heading
in and the best performers have mastered
what works for them that’s why they’re
high performers they figured this out
they’ve personalized it same with a
coach same with all the support and the
seven work for them and it’ll work for
nobody else so looking at what you do
and how you’re living what’s inside the
really narrow ring what’s in there for
you
let’s look at how they do this how do
they move through this period of not
quite knowing what I’m doing to knowing
exactly what I’m doing and there’s five
stages they work through this is proven
in medicine military Dreyfus brothers
and Anders Ericsson are the two with
giant research backgrounds in these
areas and so a psyche a sport example
would be first off you’ve got an
exercise do your arms do your legs do
your back and it’s the next level you
start to connect athlete starts to
figure out oh yeah I know that’s lower
body and this is upper body and then I
do some endurance and the next level
there’s a system starting develop
they’re thinking about oh i need
nutrition my sleeps got to work now and
they start to turn this into an
ecosystem the next two levels are where
the best in the world operate they
tinker and redefine so they’re beyond
just accepting a system and going
through the motions they’re tailoring it
to themself and they are completely
redefining the area and based on what
works for them that’s how they redefine
and how does this happen it comes
through coaching this is the story that
we’re we’re told out of all these people
a coach is a key key person there’s no
repeat medalist without a coach and the
reason is like a great teacher they
point things out you would otherwise not
notice because all of you all of us all
of them are basically a blue dot on a
blue wall you cannot see the system
you’re in because you’re in it you’re
too busy getting on with stuff and they
are too busy getting on with stuff to
step back and have a look at is this the
right stuff and the coach plays things
back have you noticed you might want to
try this and oh it makes sense as soon
as you hear it but you’re not always
paying attention to everything because
you’ve got to keep moving and what are
they looking for what kind of things two
coaches and athletes talk about the
analogy is like an iceberg so on top
you’ve got the beautiful white floaty
bit
small but you know the powers under the
water everything that’s holding that
little bit up is under here this is the
stuff you can see things like an event
like this you can see it there’s a
pattern of things patterns of behavior
patterns of events that you can see how
many times this has happened and I eat
like this and every so often my
nutrition goes kaput –n yeah i figured
out all right it’s the pattern that most
of the new athletes new coaches are
they’re dealing with what they can see
fixing things making problems go away
sorting out what they can already see
the next level the ones really trying to
redefine and tailor are under the ocean
under there is the system that creates
this and the thinking that creates the
system so two analogies just to paint
the picture for you TEDx so here’s an
event and we’re all here and there’s a
pattern and you may have been to other
TEDx events before other things like
this and you may be going to the future
future events and that that’s it that’s
where the visible is underneath that
you’ll notice once it’s pointed out but
you haven’t been as we’ve been you’ve
been listening some great sessions is we
built walls that work the building’s not
shaking it’s not collapsing around us
the ceilings here we know where we are
you knew the map the roads work your
transport worked
you knew what the schedule was the
organizers have sorted at our system
we’ve been briefed you know why you’re
here and how you got here there’s a
whole system and change any of that
this may not happen above the water
then there’s the thinking why did you
step into that system well what about
this talk has triggered some interest in
you do you know somebody is there a
burning passion you’ve got thinking
drives a system you walk into or create
which creates what you can see and the
best coaches and best athletes are under
here they’re under the sea and so in
your life is your achieving your own
potential what’s under the sea for you
what kind of things are you paying
attention to in the system the structure
and the thinking and how you go about
what you do these repeat medalists have
done one other thing because we’ve
talked about the preparation but they
have performed so at the end they’ve
finished something they’ve stood out
there and even if they’re in a team they
are basically alone when the ball comes
to them there is nobody else so they
have delivered when the pressure was on
they’ve put it out and done it and
there’s a difference between the repeat
medalists and the newcomers in the
performance spectrum so in sport we
analyze the preparation we analyze the
performance those two things and how do
we optimize them so a beginner can
Experian produce when they’ve
experienced it being there and done that
the next level athlete or coach can
perform when they’ve either experienced
or considered it so they’ve talked about
it they’ve planned it I’ve never raced
in Lane eight with all that chopped and
that crosswind but what we talked about
it so I’m good I got selected for Lane
eight it’s fine the next level is in
what’s called flow they are completely
absorbed in the world in reality they’re
not thinking their way through this
anymore they’re beyond they’re into
creative reflex they navigate whatever
comes toward them no resistance
navigating whatever comes toward them
you’ll have seen this in some of the
sport events the ones that really touch
you deep inside you can see wow this
person somewhere else and they’re really
connected they’ve learned to do that
this is not some boring thing champions
are born and then made there’s a
combination and they’re born with
exactly what we’ve got but then they
make with what they’re made with my
drysdale won a bronze at the Olympics
and he had a really bad flu such a flu
they thought he was gonna pull out you
want a bronze they interviewed him
afterwards and they said well I guess
next Olympics you’re gonna be healthy
and he said no that doesn’t matter
next Olympics I’m gonna have trained so
hard I can
when I’m sick so his attitude is
completely different navigating so how
do they pull it together what’s the
final picture what’s under the sea of
how they pull this together the great
performance with a great preparation
what’s their thinking look like what is
all this story that we’ve recorded tell
us about their their thinking and they
see the world in two basic parts vision
this is what I want to create and
current reality this is where I am you
think well that’s not rocket science
isn’t that how everybody thinks but most
focus and the newcomer athletes and then
novice focus up here at the vision being
crystal clear on the vision I can see it
I can feel it I’m energized by it here
it is I’m gonna get there I am gonna get
there but down here is current reality
in the some things that are really
uncomfortable about current reality and
these repeat top performers don’t dwell
down here try to lift it up it needs to
be exactly what it is I can get here
from here but what’s the gap what’s the
true gap don’t tell me I’m a little bit
faster than I really am that I believe a
little bit more than I really do that
I’m a little bit better than I really am
I am what I am and here it is because I
am NOT here to fix this I’m here to
create this so they look at this gap in
perfect truthfulness and despite what it
looks like they don’t have consistent
self belief consistent positive messages
there’s a whole lot of just humaneness
in how they go about what they do but
what they don’t do is pretend
something’s different down here occur
reality they don’t try to fix here they
live in creating here so what have we
learned from the overall story they have
a structure to their learning they’ve
trained themselves on how to learn they
focus on creation not fixing
and as they go on to achieve their own
personal excellence what really
surprised us is what they think of
themself doesn’t matter as much as what
we thought and what does this story what
parts of this story triggered your
thinking what resonates most with you as
you make a difference in your own life
and make a difference in your own work
thank you for your attention
[Applause]
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