I've been reading Alan Fine's book, "You ALREADY Know How To Be GREAT" and wanted to share with you his idea of the nature of performance. I recommend this book highly. Alan uses a simple phrase, "K3F", as a powerful model of human performance. Let's take a closer look and provide some perspective first.
The K stands for Knowledge. Many people believe that the best way to improve performance is to increase knowledge. If you want to get better, take a seminar, listen to tapes, read a book, hire an expert. This has been ingrained in us since early schooling and is the most common approach used to improve individual and organizational performance. This reflects the fact that we tend to see performance problems as knowledge problems and therefore look for knowledge solutions. Obviously there is some knowledge we do not have and if we can figure out how to get it, our performance will improve. A formula that reflects this approach is
Performance = Capacity + Knowledge
OK, sometimes this works but most of the time it does not. Why? If knowledge really were all that it took to augment performance then we'd all be great performers from increasing that knowledge. The problem is that we're not all performing optimally and effectively. Why? To quote, Alan, "the biggest obstacle in performance isn't not knowing what to do; it's not doing what we know. The problem is not as much about knowledge acquisition as it is about knowledge execution." So, what is impeding our execution? Alan, calls it interference.
Interference is what gets in the way of experimenting and using the knowledge we already have. Interference has tremendous impact on our thoughts, our emotions that drive our behaviors and performance. It is a restrictive or restraining force that holds us back and is shaped by our judgments of ourselves, others or situations, our self-limiting beliefs, doubts or lack of confidence to name a few. It's what happens when we react to stress in our lives. Therefore, in order to augment performance we need to eliminate the interference that is getting in our way and using the knowledge we already have. The formula for this approach is
Performance = Capacity - Interference
Now, Alan takes his previous definition further, "the biggest obstacle (and opportunity) in performance isn't about knowing what to do; it's about doing what we know. And what keeps us from doing what we know is interference."
Now that we know what the K stands for, what about the 3F's? Glad you asked. Knowledge is not the only thing to increase performance. Alan's says there are three other elements, innate in all of us, at the very core of high performance individuals, teams and organizations. These elements are Faith, Fire and Focus. Together, Knowledge, Faith, Fire and Focus make up the "K3F" model of human performance. It is the 3F's that drive the quality of performance and performance improvements in all of us and the teams and organizations we are part of.
Faith is about belief. Our belief drives our behavior and our behavior drives our results. In a team/organization it is about believing in the viability, competency, and purpose of the team/organization. Eliminating self doubt, insecurities, anxieties and limiting beliefs. If we believe we are not good enough or that it cannot be done, then our narrow view of ourselves or the situation will narrow our performance.
Fire is about passion and energy and emotions. It is the commitment we see in people and companies that consistently do great and inspiring things. When the Fire is out, we see indifference, low motivation and energy, lack of commitment and in most companies today, lack of engagement. Serious problems. You see it in people who are not clear about their passion and vision or whose lives are not aligned with those priorities. There is a powerful relationship between Faith and Fire. When one sees the possibilities and removes negativity their Fire grows and then it is their emotions driving their behavior.
Focus is about directed attention or concentration. It's about being in the "here and now," paying full attention to the task at hand, uninterrupted by other distractions. Alan is convinced that Focus is the defining difference in human performance. It is what changes people's Faith, their Fire, their acquisition and use of knowledge and elimination of all that interference.
Faith, Fire and Focus are all necessary for top performance. This is true for individual, team and organizational performance. With Faith and Fire, without Focus, people believe in themselves and have energy and commitment but are inconsistent in their performance. With Faith and Focus, without Fire, people are confident and stay on task but the don't care, won't commit and won't take risks. With Fire and Focus, without Faith, people are passionate about what they do and stay on task but are insecure and lack confidence.
Knowledge with Faith, Fire and Focus (K3F) creates a useful and effective model of performance that we can all understand, evaluate and then create our own performance changes.
What are one or two things you already know you could do to significantly improve your personal or professional life that you're not doing now? What's getting in the way of not doing them?
How much interference is getting in the way of your performance or your families, your team or company?
To what extent do you feel your Faith, Fire and Focus is engaged in your personal and professional life? What would different in your live if you were able to tap more fully into your Faith, Fire and Focus?
What did you think of Alan's model? Send me a note via email at brad@aperiocoaching.net or on Twitter @bparcells.
In Latin, Aperio means to reveal, uncover, to make clear. Coaching is a powerful process that enables the client to reveal and illuminate their authentic style via a sharp focus on who they are at their core that includes their faith, fire and focus.
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