I’ve had a big week. There have been some brilliant presentations, a global broadcast, the Business Book Awards, where Sustain came close, but no cigar, and plenty of conversations with people along the way. And one idea has come up repeatedly.
When I’ve spoken to delegates after keynotes, or explained a little more about the work I do, many have said the part of Cadence that really stayed with them was Predict.
It is a very simple idea: anticipate what is coming and prepare for it.
Simple, perhaps even startlingly obvious. But that does not mean we always do it.
We are often too busy moving to look ahead
Modern working life can feel like a constant sequence of events, opportunities, projects and milestones. We finish one thing and move immediately into the next.
There is very little space between delivering the presentation, finishing the project, hitting the deadline or reaching the milestone before attention shifts to whatever is next.
The result is that we can end up reacting to things we already knew were coming.
A major client meeting appears in the diary, and suddenly everyone is rushing to prepare.
A particularly busy period arrives and the team is already exhausted.
A significant launch, conference, reporting deadline or organisational change gets closer and closer, yet the preparation only really begins once the pressure starts to build.
This is where Predict comes in.
What is your “Wimbledon”?
When I talk about Predict, I often ask people to identify their “Wimbledon”.
For a professional tennis player, Wimbledon does not suddenly appear in the calendar. They know it is coming. Their training, recovery, nutrition, preparation and other commitments can all be shaped around being ready to perform when it matters most.
Most of us have our own version of Wimbledon.
Professionally it might be:
- a major presentation
- an important client pitch
- a product launch
- a particularly demanding quarter
- a conference or event
- a board meeting
- a period of travel
- a major organisational change
- or simply a predictably intense few weeks
On the personal side, it might be:
- a big family occasion, exams, school move,
- moving house
- a wedding or celebration
- a major life change
- increased demand for care or support for a loved one
- a demanding few weeks at home
- or simply a time of year you know tends to take more out of you than usual
The question is not whether you can remove the pressure. It is whether you can see it coming early enough to prepare for it.
What would 5% more prepared look like?
Preparation does not have to mean completely redesigning your diary or creating an elaborate plan. Sometimes the most useful question is:
What could I do now that would leave me 5 or 10% better prepared?
- That might mean creating more space in the days before an important event.
- It might mean protecting sleep and recovery. Even just aiming to go to bed 15 minutes early in the run-up.
- It could mean briefing your team earlier, delegating something in advance or avoiding unnecessary commitments around an already demanding period.
- For a team, it might mean simply acknowledging that a busy period is coming and agreeing how you are going to manage it together.
- Small adjustments made early can prevent much bigger problems later.
Look ahead before you speed up
One of the principles behind Cadence is that sustainable high performance is not simply about how hard we work. It is about how intelligently we manage periods of effort and recovery.
Predict gives us an opportunity to do that before pressure takes over.
So take a look at the next few weeks or months.
What is the next big thing coming up for you or your team?
What is your Wimbledon?
And what could you do now to make sure you arrive at it a little more prepared, a little more energised and better able to perform when it matters?
Bring Cadence into your organisation
If your leaders and teams are operating at an increasingly demanding pace, my Cadence keynote helps people understand how to manage their energy, anticipate pressure and build recovery into the way they work.
If you’d like to explore bringing me into your organisation, get in touch.
