Firsts. As an adult and a parent of older children, you start to run out of “firsts.” The first walk, the first birthday and at some point, the first time they drive a car. As adults we can lose the ability to try meaningful firsts and we get stuck in a comfort zone of mediocrity. Our careers will stagnate and we are left with this feeling that the world may be passing us by, or worse, that we are not moving forward.
When you think of the best business leaders, entrepreneurs, and even elite athletes they have at least one thing in common. It is their ability to push themselves outside their comfort zone and stay there longer. Research shows that to rapidly develop a desired skill a person must push themselves outside the normalcy of the day and try different things. Being uncomfortable is key.
One of the simple concepts that can help you push your skills further is peer to peer feedback. I am not talking about the old feedback sandwich in which you slide the bad news between two slices of good news. The peer to peer feedback must be candid and from people that you know or that can add value. Having people that are in your circle of influence that know what success of the skill you are trying to develop is crucial to having candid feedback. You must ask the right opinions of people that are in the know.
Think about comedians like Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle and Jerry Seinfeld. When you see them on stage they look like they are so natural and their timing and delivery is impeccable. What most people don’t realize is the time they take into developing the material to look flawless.
Comedians of this caliber will book time at comedy stores to try out their material, to see if a joke bombs, and to see what works. Chris Rock has been known to throw jokes out and four days later bring it back, tweak a few words, and then put it back in his routine. What makes them rapidly develop their performance is to invite other titans of the industry to critique their practice sessions.
Bill Gates, in a TED Talk on feedback noted that the Gates Foundation researched has done some research into student performance. They drew a correlation between teachers that continually develop their skills have students that perform better. The research showed that 11 of the 14 countries that are ahead of the US in reading comprehension have developed a formal peer to peer feedback process for their teachers. They pair master teachers with younger teachers and have implemented film into the classroom. Teachers can review their performance and receive peer to peer feedback on that film. This process is seeing some major benefit to students and classrooms.
In order to rapidly develop skills and become the best in your industry you have to have a mind frame of worrying about what could go right, rather than what can go wrong. If you are trying out a new skill and you are only worried about whether people loved the ending performance, you will never become a world class performer. Although, it is important to hear you did well, it is more important to absorb the feedback on the performance of your skill and make the changes to reach maximum performance. Create an environment that the right people can give you the right feedback and use this to push yourself into trying something new. Finding the best version of yourself.
