SME Magazine SPRING 2017 | Page 17

INSIGHT
Neil Armstrong on the Moon in July 1969 (NASA via CNP © dpa - Report)
The most common answer to the
question was Susan Boyle wasn’t what
you expected. “She wasn’t as useless
as I thought she’d be,” was the politest
response.
Note the most important four words:
Wasn’t what you expected. Think
of the great discoveries of our time –
Columbus setting sail to the edge of a
world some considered to be flat; Edison
discovering light without heat; Wilbur
and Orville Wright achieving the very
first powered flight; Neil Armstrong
setting foot on the Moon. These were all
achieved by people who refused to let
their own horizons represent the limits
of what can be achieved. In sporting
terms, think how Dave Brailsford didn’t
merely look at the world of cycling to
recruit members of his support team, or
how Clive Woodward utilised the best
minds in business and education to help
him create an elite culture in rugby.
Breakthroughs in sport have come
from innovators. Think of Kevin
Pietersen introducing the switch hit to
international cricket, or Sonja Hennie
winning the gold medal in figure skating
at the 1928 Olympics by going out of the
traditional skating ‘box’ and introducing
ballet into her routine. Some have even
given their game to an innovation: the
Fosbury Flop in the high jump, the
Cruyff Turn and the Panenka in football,
and Federer’s SABR (Sneak Attack By
Roger) in tennis. In other words, doing
what wasn’t expected – not so much
pushing the envelope as ignoring it.
Most people possess a model of the
world, a script for how things should
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be. What stops innovation is the lack of
willingness to double back and revisit
our scripts and determine whether they
are helpful or not. When I hear coaches
respond to a defeat by declaring that they
will work harder, I often wonder whether
they are making the same mistake of
thinking that simply shouting louder at
someone who speaks a foreign language
will make them understand the point
any clearer. It’s not working harder but
working smarter which is what double
loop thinking requires us to do.
Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans recounts that
he knew he was in professional trouble
when his best friends were all on his
payroll. “They were paid to laugh at my
jokes,” he recalls. The best coaches resist
the urge to run with the herd, recruiting
people from outside their own areas of
expertise and allowing them to challenge
him. It is easy to run with the herd. Even
on our most important issues of the day,
we often adopt views of our friends,
families and colleagues.
On some level, this makes sense: it
is easier to fall in line with what your
friends and family think than to find new
family and friend s. But running with the
herd means we are quick to embrace the
status quo, slow to change our minds and
happy to delegate our thinking.
There is no obligation for you to agree
with or do everything suggested in my
work. While I wanted people to walk
away having enjoyed the session and be
able to apply the ideas directly to their
life for immediate effect, I wanted to give
more than just a set of prescriptions. I
wanted to make people think.
Sir Clive Woodward (David Davies/PA Wire),
above, and Sir David Brailsford, below, have
transformed their sports
AUTHOR PROFILE
Damian Hughes is
the author of Liquid
Thinking, Liquid
Leadership, How to
Change Absolutely
Anything, How to
Think Like Sir Alex
Ferguson and The
Five STEPS to a
Winning Mindset.
SME
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