Zone of Peak Performance
What is Peak Performance?
Looking for an actionable definition of peak performance? If yes, then this is a great place to start.
A model of peak performance and how it can be realized – see video.
In Formula 1™ performing at a high level is not enough. What's required is peak performance.
The driver's job is to push the car to the limit. In an increasingly fast-paced business environment, the leader's job is the same.
But how close to peak performance is your business unit or team? To find out, let's start with the BIG question:
‘In the Zone'
Unless your unit or team is exploiting at least 75% of its full potential it is not realizing F1™ levels of Peak Performance.
This 75%+ level is called the Zone of Peak Performance™, but it is not a crowded space. Benchmark data across 47 markets and 12 industries puts the percentage of full potential exploited at just 61%.
There is good news however. The strategies to operate in the Zone of Peak Performance™ are now available to your unit/team.
There are 4 zones of performance. These show the percentage of a business unit or team's full potential that is presently being exploited.
The above image (created by Pitstop Analytics™) shows the percentage of full potential presently being exploited by each member of a leadership team. The names have been changed, but the distribution is typical.
Most people are in the middle – the Normal Zone of between 55% and 74%. A minority are performing at 75% plus, that is in the Zone of Peak Performance™.
The Danger Zone
Where the P2P Metric™ falls below 55% a team has entered the ‘Zone of Danger’ with implications not just for performance, but also levels of confidence, motivation and engagement. It can impact on well-being too.
The Zone of Normal
Peak Performance is the exception rather than the norm. Benchmarking data suggests that most people and teams are operating betwen 10 and 20 percent below Peak Performance (ie. 75%+). They are in the Zone of Normal.
The Zone of Normal is a relatively safe place to be. It could also be called the Comfort Zone – comfortable for all except high performers.
Why isn't your team in the Zone of Peak Performance™? The answer is Performance Losses – those factors that are holding the organization, unit or team back. They are systematically identified by Pitstop Analytics™.
What is required to more from one zone of performance to another? Well, the answer is revealed by the Pitstop Meta-model™.
