{"id":11158,"date":"2022-07-19T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-19T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/?post_type=article&p=11158"},"modified":"2025-12-15T05:11:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T05:11:33","slug":"are-your-athletes-applying-their-learning-in-the-most-effective-way","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/are-your-athletes-applying-their-learning-in-the-most-effective-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Are your Athletes Applying their Learning in the Most Effective Way?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\n 19 Jul 2022 <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Articles<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

Are your Athletes Applying their Learning in the Most Effective Way?<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n \n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Category<\/div>\n Coaching & Development<\/a> <\/div>\n
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https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/are-your-athletes-applying-their-learning-in-the-most-effective-way\/<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n\n\n\n
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A Member Case Study with Leaders Performance Advisor Bobby Scales II on 13 July.<\/p>\n \n \n \n

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By Luke Whitworth<\/h6>\n

Recommended reading <\/strong><\/p>\n

Why Debriefs Are Such Effective Tools of Learning at Delta Airlines<\/a><\/p>\n

Is Your Team a Good Learning Organisation?<\/a><\/p>\n

How NASA Share Knowledge and Learn Faster<\/a><\/p>\n

Framing the topic<\/strong><\/p>\n

Applying new learning or ideas continues to be a fascinating theme of discussion across the world of high performance sport, yet it remains a challenge. In this virtual roundtable which was led by Leaders Performance Advisor Bobby Scales II, we explored six points around this theme and then opened up discussions around key considerations and approaches of those on the call.<\/p>\n

How to lift ideas off the page<\/strong><\/p>\n

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  1. Learning with intent:<\/strong> we read articles, listen to podcasts and attend conferences. Curious people acquire tons of information but are we learning for enhancement or are we learning for entertainment? When preparing to engage in a learning opportunity, what is it that you want to learn? It\u2019s extremely important to learn in a purposeful and pragmatic fashion \u2013 follow up and make it impactful.<\/li>\n
  2. Focus:<\/strong> leaving the learning environment (speech, conference etc.) with several pieces that made significant impact. Focus on one or two that you can apply to your organisation. Utilise the flight or train home \u2013 that can be a vital period in reviewing what made an impact on you.<\/li>\n
  3. Process:<\/strong> quickly create a process by which you plan to implement those ideas. Formulating an actionable plan is key to making the knowledge that you acquired \u2018sticky\u2019. How can you dig deeper on what stood out to you?<\/li>\n
  4. Board of directors:<\/strong> share what you have learned and how you plan to implement your ideas with your \u2018board of directors\u2019, these are people close to you either in or outside of the organisation. People on your board of directors will hold you accountable because they care about you and your success on a personal level. This is a powerful way to debrief ideas and build them out further.<\/li>\n
  5. Be aggressive:<\/strong> this is where a lot of the learnings can get lost. Move quickly and decisively with applying the learning in your environment. The more time between information ingestion and action the more likely you will end up seeing the conference as a social gathering.<\/li>\n
  6. Keep lifting:<\/strong> it\u2019s exceedingly easy for the learning and ideas to never leave the notebooks we write them in. The true test of lifting any idea off the page is to make it real. What you are really seeking is behaviour change, as such you must model the behaviour that you want.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong>Discussion points<\/strong><\/p>\n

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    • Aggression vs. intent:<\/strong> there can be a perception of being too proactive, whereas if you are in the right environment you can just be intentional with the idea or learning.<\/li>\n
    • External groups:<\/strong> this is hugely beneficial and powerful in their ability to hold you to account. Sometimes there isn\u2019t a \u2018bookshelf built for that book\u2019 so how do you tell the story to build the shelf to brew the evolution of the idea into integration or implementation?<\/li>\n
    • How you are creating connection:<\/strong> when working with other athletes or staff, what are you doing to get on their level? Quality learning amongst peers of people is more impactful with an underlying foundation of connection.<\/li>\n
    • Desire to action:<\/strong> in high performance sport we have a huge action bias \u2013 we have all this information so how do we do this in our organisation? The real question becomes at what point does action become useless or a negative return on investment?<\/li>\n
    • What is your or our curriculum:<\/strong> how do we teach, learn and guide? What are the metrics that guide that curriculum that let us know there is progress in certain areas? For bigger ideas, create that \u2018pilot\u2019 space where we can figure out if it does or doesn\u2019t work. Where is your \u2018failure\u2019 location to explore whether we decide to go deeper or not?<\/li>\n
    • Culture:<\/strong> do you have a clear culture around learning from the tip of the spear? There is only going to be so much you can do if the buy-in is only from a mid-management level. If you have a culture when rubber meets the road that there is fear to try anything or a \u2018no safety culture\u2019 where ideas are dismissed by management with the excuse of funds or time \u2013 you need an open culture to allow these things to work.<\/li>\n
    • Context is crucial:<\/strong> we like new and shiny things, there is a recency-effect. Often there can this notion of applying a similar idea into your context but the reality is that it can\u2019t be lifted from one context to another, there are nuances. How do we mitigate the new and shiny? The real learning usually takes place when you bring an idea back and begin throwing it around in a smaller group setting \u2013 it begins to be shaped into something that has meaning.<\/li>\n
    • Power of reflection:<\/strong> don\u2019t rush into things too quickly, give the idea or learning time to \u2018marinade\u2019 \u2013 a good idea is still a good idea a week down the line. Find the sweet spot between not leaving the idea too long, but giving enough time for you to get back into the environment and review how it might work in practice. Then ask yourself: would this still be impactful? Is it still relevant? Straight after a learning experience you are emotionally positive, so the power of reflection is important as you look to articulate it a more holistic way.<\/li>\n
    • Learning is a process not an event:<\/strong> this has strong alignment to the discussion point around culture \u2013 we want to strive for a sustainable learning journey.<\/li>\n
    • Individualisation:<\/strong> what is your personal way and process for learning and subsequently putting things into action?<\/li>\n
    • Create depth to the learning:<\/strong> what can you do to get further down the levels in terms of the idea, topic or theme? Sometimes when seeing some present or share a dynamic idea, it can be hard to replicate without the environmental buy-in as much as it is with the idea itself.<\/li>\n
    • Multiple processes to implementing ideas:<\/strong> it may be the case that there are multiple processes to implementing ideas as opposed to just one. If there is something that is perhaps more conceptual or theoretical, this process for implementation may look very different to something more structured or content-driven.<\/li>\n
    • Maximise impact:<\/strong> do your peers present back their learnings and findings after engaging in learning experiences? It creates discussion, room to create more depth and the ability to make learning contextual to your environment. Based on these ideas, notes or takeaways, what do others see, feel or hear? Not just read, see and heard around those ideas. A question you can focus on is \u2018what are we going to notice that is different as oppose to what is it that you are going to commit to?\u2019<\/li>\n
    • Teach & preach:<\/strong> the best way to learn ideas is to teach them. What has a member of the team learnt and, subsequently, how are they teaching and preaching that learning to others? What has been ingrained in the practice?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
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