Boston Sports Medicine and Performance Group, LLC Blog

Leaders as Decision Architects

Posted by Boston Sports Medicine and Performance Group on Thu, Apr 30, 2015 @ 07:04 AM

 

Join the Leaders in Sports Medicine and Performance Management at the 2015 CATAPULT Performance Directors Meeting - Fenway Park - Sunday May 17th

 

Performance Directors Meeting

 

 

 

Article originally appeared on hbr.org

by John Beshears and Francesca Gino

 

All employees, from CEOs to frontline workers, commit preventable mistakes: We underestimate how long it will take to finish a task, overlook or ignore information that reveals a flaw in our planning, or fail to take advantage of company benefits that are in our best interests. It’s extraordinarily difficult to rewire the human brain to undo the patterns that lead to such mistakes. But there is another approach: Alter the environment in which decisions are made so that people are more likely to make choices that lead to good outcomes.

Leaders can do this by acting as architects. Drawing on our extensive research in the consulting, software, entertainment, health care, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, banking, retail, and food industries and on the basic principles of behavioral economics, we have developed an approach for structuring work to encourage good decision making.

Our approach consists of five basic steps: (1) Understand the systematic errors in decision making that can occur, (2) determine whether behavioral issues are at the heart of the poor decisions in question, (3) pinpoint the specific underlying causes, (4) redesign the decision-making context to mitigate the negative impacts of biases and inadequate motivation, and (5) rigorously test the solution. This process can be applied to a wide range of problems, from high employee turnover to missed deadlines to poor strategic decisions.

Understand How Decisions Are Made

For decades, behavioral decision researchers and psychologists have suggested that human beings have two modes of processing information and making decisions. The first, System 1 thinking, is automatic, instinctive, and emotional. It relies on mental shortcuts that generate intuitive answers to problems as they arise. The second, System 2, is slow, logical, and deliberate. (Daniel Kahneman, winner of the Nobel prize in economics, popularized this terminology in his book Thinking, Fast and Slow.

 

Each of the two modes of thinking has distinct advantages and disadvantages. In many cases, System 1 takes in information and reaches correct conclusions nearly effortlessly using intuition and rules of thumb. Of course, these shortcuts can lead us astray. So we rely on our methodical System 2 thinking to tell us when our intuition is wrong or our emotions have clouded our judgment, and to correct poor snap judgments. All too often, though, we allow our intuitions or emotions to go unchecked by analysis and deliberation, resulting in poor decisions. (For a look at how both modes of thinking can cause problems, see “Outsmart Your Own Biases.”)

Overreliance on System 1 thinking has another negative effect: It leads to poor follow-through on plans, despite people’s best intentions and genuine desire to achieve their goals. That’s because System 1 tends to focus on concrete, immediate payoffs, distracting us from the abstract, long-term consequences of our decisions. For instance, employees know they should save for retirement, yet they rarely get around to signing up for their 401(k) plans. (A survey conducted in 2014 by TIAA-CREF found that Americans devote more time to choosing a TV or the location for a birthday dinner than to setting up a retirement account.)

We do not mean to suggest that System 1 should be entirely suppressed in order to promote sound decisions. The intuitive reactions of System 1 serve as important inputs in the decision-making process. For example, if an investment opportunity triggers a fearful emotional response, the decision maker should carefully consider whether the investment is too risky. Using System 2, the emotional response should be weighed against other factors that may be underappreciated by System 1—such as the long-term strategic value of the investment.

Engaging System 2 requires exerting cognitive effort, which is a scarce resource; there’s simply not enough of it to govern all the decisions we’re called on to make. As the cognitive energy needed to exercise System 2 is depleted, problems of bias and inadequate motivation may arise.

 

Continue reading this article by clicking HERE. 

 

 

Register for the BSMPG  2015 Summer Seminar Today!

 

Topics: BSMPG Summer Seminar, Catapult

2015 CATAPULT Performance Directors Meeting - Welcomes Steve Tashjian - Player Monitoring for Peak Performance

Posted by Boston Sports Medicine and Performance Group on Mon, Dec 8, 2014 @ 07:12 AM

 

BSMPG is proud to announce STEVE TASHJIAN as a speaker at the 2015 CATAPULT Performance Directors Meeting - Sunday May 17th, 2015 - Fenway Park.

Join the leaders in Sports Medicine and Performance Training for this one day event following the 2015 BSMPG Summer Seminar - May 15-16th, 2015.  Inquire at bostonsmpg@gmail.com - serious thought leaders only!

 

Mission of the CATAPULT Performance Directors Meeting: To provide the leaders in performance training and medical oversight an opportunity to engage with leaders of similar attitude, vision, and entrepreneurial spirit, while pursuing innovative strategies in performance methodology. 

This is a limited capacity event and will be held to 50 of the top thought and change leaders from across the globe.

 

 

bsmpg

 

Steve Tashjian

Topic: Player Monitoring for Peak Performance

Tashjian joins the Crew from Barclays Premier League side Everton Football Club, where he served for five years as the Head of Sports Science and Conditioning and Director of End Stage Rehabilitation. During his time at Everton, Tashjian became well known for his innovative approach to player monitoring and performance development. While serving the club, Everton never finished outside the top eight Premiership positions, qualifying in 2009-2010 for the UEFA Europa League, appearing in the 2011-2012 FA Cup semifinal and finishing fifth in the Premier League in 2013-2014. During his tenure, Tashjian worked with a list of elite players including Tim Howard, Landon Donovan, Tim Cahill, Louis Saha, Phil Neville, Steven Pienaar, Romelu Lukaku and Leighton Baines.

From 2007 to 2009, Tashjian served as Assistant Coach and Head of Fitness, Director of End Stage Rehabilitation and Reconditioning with the Crew. He was a part of Sigi Schmid’s staff that led the Black & Gold to Columbus’ first professional championship with the 2008 MLS Cup squad, and was a part of back-to-back Supporters’ Shield wins in 2008 and 2009 in addition to the club’s 2009 CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinal berth.

Tashjian’s clinical experience began in 2002 as Physical Therapist and Strength and Conditioning Coach in Pasadena, California at the Competitive Athlete Training Zone (CATZ), assisting with the off-season training program for the LA Galaxy. In 2003, he left his position with CATZ to become Co-Owner and Director of Athletic Performance at Rehab United Physical Therapy and Sports Performance Center in San Diego, California, working with elite amateur, Olympic and professional athletes from multiple sports.

As an Assistant Coach, Head of Fitness and later a consultant for Azusa Pacific University from 2006-2008, he helped the university to a 2007 NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship as well as runner-up honors with the women in 2007 and the men in 2006.

 


 

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Topics: Catapult, Performance Directors Meeting, Steve Tashjian

The 2015 Catapult Performance Directors Meeting - Fenway Park

Posted by Boston Sports Medicine and Performance Group on Mon, Nov 10, 2014 @ 07:11 AM

 

fenway park BSMPG

 

What do you get when you mix the most iconic ballpark in the world with the Leaders in Sports Performance?


Yup - The 2015 CATAPULT Performance Directors Meeting

Date: Sunday May 17th, 2015 - following the BSMPG Summer Seminar (May 15-16, 2015)

Location: Fenway Park, Boston MA

Mission of the BSMPG Performance Director Forum: To provide the leaders in performance training and medical oversight an opportunity to engage with leaders of similar attitude, vision, and entrepreneurial spirit, while pursuing innovative strategies in performance methodology. 

Performance Directors Meeting

Click HERE for complete registration details.

 

 

Special thanks to Leaders in Performance Training who made this event happen:

 

Omegawave     

 

  perform better

 

Topics: Catapult, Performance Directors Meeting, Fenway Park