Listen to Dave expand on this topic via the Podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
Cultural States
Sir John Whitmore, potentially wrote the most important book on coaching there is, Coaching for Performance. It’s very good.
It has a lot of good stuff in it, but one model stands out.
This model, the Performance Curve, is designed to help you and your team assess your culture and how it affects your performance and your team’s performance.
I’ve used this model multiple times in individual and group settings, with some slight adjustments and additions. It’s brilliant at triggering teams to really think about their culture and performance.
Here I want to briefly explain the model, For a detailed description go read the book, I then want to focus in on the additions I’ve made and concepts that are more applicable to our personal growth.
The Performance Curve… with some additions…
The model outlines 4 states of culture;
- Impulsive – the lowest state of culture – identified by the phrase, “whatever happens, happens”
- Dependent – “I follow the rules and do what I am told”
- Independent – “I am a high performer” Side note, I disagree with Sir John on this one, I think a team full of high performers will in fact be less effective than a team that is dependent on a good system and manager.
- Interdependent – “We are truly successful together” – this inherently requires vulnerability, which is important, because without it we don’t know where to be dependent on others.
Sir John then proposes that our performance draws a curve increasing as we move through each state of culture.
My observation is that we can move through each state at high frequency, in the morning in one state and then another state in the afternoon. The key is spotting when you are in each state, as a team or even as an individual, and then doing something about it.
Most of us can point to the cultural state our team may be in, but we will fail to do something about it. Now that you have this model, what will you do to move through each cultural state?
The next bit, some of my additions or thoughts on this:
Interference is the thing between you and your potential, it’s the thing that prevents you from moving in a straight line towards your goals and potential. I would add that the interference we all face is always there, no matter where we are on the performance curve. So the difference between the 2 ends of this model is this;
Resilience…
Those in a low-performance space fail to make it through the resilience in their space, which is a failure in resilience.
Those in a high-performance space have built resilience through the other states, and now maintain that resilience against high resilience.
That last sentence needs some explanation. High-performance spaces, inherently come with high interference. Think of the F1 pit crew, I can change a tyre, but they change a tyre at high speed in a competitive environment, with little room for error.
Key takeaways:
- Cultural States – Which cultural state are you in? As an individual, or within your team?
- Resilience – is the differentiator that will keep you at either end of the model. How are you engaging resilience as an individual, or within your team? It’s the secret source…
