Part I – Organizational Structure we went through why the High Performance Model (HPM) is not a good fit for top down organizational structures. In this Part II, we are going to review what the High Performance Model actually looks like, in part to show I actually do have an idea of what it is before criticizing it.
A great resource is Fergus Connolly’s Game Changer: The Art of Sports Science described a high performance model as the integration of Tactical Preparation, Technical Preparation, Psychological Preparation, and Physical Preparation. The idea is that these are the four areas we need to focus on in developing athletes to sports success.
The idea is that these are the areas that need to be addressed in developing elite performance, but there is an important distinction with the HPM. What this does not mean, is that this is someone’s department or one person’s job. This is a tough concept to grasp in westernized settings. We spend a lot of time and energy creating these silos in order to justify them and to evaluate their impact.
Think about everything we do in regards to professional level service. Medical systems, legal systems, contracting all have ‘specialists’. Alternatively, in most parts of the world, professional services have to be more capable within multiple disciplines. In Atul Gawande’s Better, he discussed visiting India and was blown away by the versatility of each Doctor at the hospital he had visited. These Doctors were Pediatrician, Surgeons, ER, Nurses, Gynecologist, Physical Therapists, Anesthesiologist, etc. In a North America, Doctors specialize as early as possible and pick a discipline with medicine for the entire career. You could see how a HPM would be much more accepted in cultures that need each of its member’s value by their overall utility.
Same is true for a coach. We pick our domain and stick with it. Strength Coach is always that, Football Coach is always that, Sports Medicine is always that, Nutritionist is always that, etc. If you are going to break down the idea of theHPM at its rawest level, it is the proverbial breaking walls of silos we have created. HPM is the funneling of responsibility into Tactical, Technical, Psychological, and Physical. Westernized organization is trying to funnel responsibilities into certain departments and hoping it will result in positive outcomes.
High Performance has a connotation as being the same as Sport Science. Sports Science is a huge part of High Performance modeling, but it is merely a singular component. Sport Science is another great example of silos in Westernized performance. Who does the tracking and is the gatekeeper to that information? The Strength Coach. Who will have the least input on Tactical and Technical preparation? The Strength Coach.
The one with the best objective data on the actual impact on physical performance is the same one with the least impact in arguably the two most influential aspects of performance: Technical and Tactical preparation. High Performance is set up to place the decision in the hands of the one with the best idea. The weight is balanced towards the sharing responsibility to be as objective as possible with incoming information. This is why it is commonplace to see the person most interested in Performance Training have an equally as good shot to move up into the director role as anyone on staff would have in HPM models – the one that is most overall valuable will have the best shot at moving up.
The idea of the HPM is to focus on the outcome, break down walls, build the process around objectives – it sounds glorious. There are obviously shortcomings there as there are here, there has to be. The idea of this could come off as ‘Socialist’ where everyone is working towards their organizational success. Where not one individual is more valuable than the next. I can say with great certainty that if there are people making millions of dollars, someone is making a fraction of that and someone feels less valued. HPM is not exempt from its problems when compensation gaps or outward credit is present.
Check in next month for Part III. We are going to dive into how to find a medium between what we intended for integrating the High Performance Model and Western Hierarchical organization structures.