One of the problems with our natural preference for those who think as we do is the tendency to find ourselves in an echo chamber. Leaders can of course combat this by recruiting for cognitive diversity, but even within a diverse group our thinking inevitably tends to become socialised as a natural consequence of spending time in the company of the same group of people. Our colleagues will also to some degree share the same biases and are subject to the conventions that are inherent to the sport. Professional sport in particular is a bubble - at present quite literally, but even under usual circumstances. It follows that it is important that we escape the bubble periodically. A related countermeasure is to strategically enlist a neutral third party to break up the usual routine and expose team members to perspectives from outside the bubble at regular intervals. Engaging with an outsider can serve a performance staff in a number of different ways as we will explore.
CALIBRATION…
As described in the opening, our judgements and decisions naturally become influenced over time by those we spend time with. Acknowledging the constraints on our thinking and the distorting influence of our regular environment should prompt us to devise coping strategies to manage these insidious effects.
One practical remedy is to regularly engage with somebody who is external to our normal working environment. An outsider can offer an independent viewpoint that is not subject to the same influences and biases. Those outside the bubble of whatever sport we are operating in are also not swayed to the same extent by whatever conventions or current trends are prevalent in that sport.
In essence, regular exposure to an independent perspective provides a much needed dose of objectivity. Periodically receiving the impartial input from somebody external to the environment effectively serves as a reference to help calibrate our professional judgement and ensure our decision making remains anchored in reality.
We have spoken previously about triangulating our position on a given issue, which in turn is reliant on being exposed to a variety of inputs encompassing a wide spread of diverging views. Enlisting the perspectives of others is necessary to cast a wider net to better understand the problem and open up the full range of available solutions.
Many sports present practical barriers to achieving this. The degree of knowledge-sharing and discussion with counterparts varies somewhat according to the sport, but it is particularly limited in professional team sports. The neutrality of the third party is clearly important in order to share relevant information, but once again it is much more straightforward to assure this with somebody who is independent.
INDEPENDENT CHAIR AND FACILITATOR…
Enlisting a neutral third party to chair a meeting similarly offers a way to alter the normal dynamic and helps avoid team members falling into usual role and patterns of behaviour. In turn, this arrangement creates the conditions that allow all parties involved to raise topics that are not normally discussed during their everyday interactions.
A good example of this approach is Dale Stevenson, coach to 2017 world champion Tom Walsh, who customarily brings in a third party to chair the end of season review and debrief between coach and athlete (including with Tom). Dale does this with the express purpose of facilitating a more frank and open discussion. This format allows both parties are able to bring any and all issues to the table, and no one side dominates proceedings as might happen otherwise.
Inviting somebody who is neutral to act as impartial arbitrator to resolve disagreements and friction between colleagues or between practitioners and performers is an extension of this approach. A third party naturally has separation from what is being discussed or disputed - and importantly they do not have a horse in the race. The distance and neutrality enables them to focus on their role of facilitating the conversation and moving things towards a resolution. The presence of a third party also removes some of the tension and helps the protagonists to engage in a respectful but candid manner.
RECONNECTING TO THE REALITY ON THE GROUND…
The leadership within a team or organisation also find themselves in a different kind of information bubble. As we climb the ladder and attain higher status this inevitably creates a separation and makes it harder to get an accurate picture of what is happening at ground level. Aside from being increasingly removed from day to day operations, the tendency for the troops to ‘manage upwards’ and tell their superiors what they assume they would like to hear is another major obstacle.
Enlisting somebody external can provide a means for the leadership to reconnect with the reality on the ground. Staff members tend to be more candid in their feedback and more willing to express their unvarnished views with a neutral third party, particularly when they are assured of anonymity.
VEHICLE FOR NEW IDEAS…
Clearly one of the main reasons that organisations enlist an external consultant is to bring new perspectives on the problem and to uncover alternative solutions. An outsider also has greater freedom to introduce ideas and candidly share viewpoints that might be unpopular. After all, they get to walk away afterwards!
An alternative but related approach is to strategically use a third party to introduce prospective initiatives conceived from within the organisation and have them present the rationale behind it. Whilst this might seem like a Trojan horse approach, in reality it provides a way to get a more accurate read on how it is being received by the staff. Presenting the idea in this way removes any association with existing staff members, so that the proposal is evaluated on its merits and independently of the person within the organisation who originally proposed it.
IN CLOSING…
The description of professional sport as a bubble seems apt but we should recognise that in all working environments particularly in the relatively small world of elite sport there is a tendency to adopt shared views and lapse into habits of thinking. Our close colleagues will naturally influence our view of the world and patterns of thinking; and we will likely have a similar effort on them.
The reinforcing nature of shared views and the perils of collective delusion seem cause alone to seek regular contact with voices from beyond the bubble. Where these opportunities are limited by the constraints of the environment, such as in professional sport, exercising the option to periodically engage a neutral third party and bring them into the environment serves the staff in a similar way.
Forward-thinking organisations in different sectors intuitively recognise this need to and cast a wider net in terms of the information and input that their staff are exposed to. To that end, the selective and strategic use of external partners will likely continue to grow in high performance sport, yielding benefits for all parties.
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