Innovation has become a buzzword in today’s world, often used without a clear understanding of its meaning. Whether in business or sports, everyone seems to be celebrating and chasing innovation without truly grasping its implications.
While innovation holds the promise of getting an edge for yourself professionally or for an organization, it also comes with costs and risks.
In sports, the pressure to innovate is keenly felt by coaches and therapists striving for success. But is innovation really the best path to improvement?
This article explores the complexities of innovation and argues it should NOT be the default approach to making progress in the high-performance arena.
The Red Queen Effect: Running in Place
In sports, teams and athletes find themselves engaged in a perpetual race, constantly striving to outpace their rivals.
But in this race, everyone is running at full tilt, each trying to gain an advantage over the other. Just to keep up you need to make progress.
This phenomenon is known as the Red Queen Effect — a concept borrowed from Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking-Glass.” While watching a race with Alice, The Red Queen famously remarked, “Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place.”
This notion encapsulates the relentless pursuit of progress required to merely maintain one’s competitive position in an ever-evolving sporting landscape.
Athletes seek to enhance their physical capabilities, hone their skills, and exploit novel tactics to gain an edge.
Coaches strive to develop innovative game plans and training methodologies, always looking for the next game-changing approach.
Sports organizations invest heavily in research and technology, scouting for emerging trends and methods that could provide a competitive advantage.
To succeed in this relentless pursuit, athletes and teams must embrace the ethos of continuous improvement. They must recognize that standing still is akin to moving backward in this ever-accelerating race.
Innovation to Thrive in a VUCA Environment
In today’s rapidly changing world, we find ourselves immersed in what experts term a VUCA environment — Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous.
This acronym describes the dynamic nature of the challenges we face, where the ground beneath us is constantly shifting, leaving little room for predictability or stability.
While originally coined in the military context, the essence of VUCA extends into corporate boardrooms and permeates into every sphere of our lives, including the world of sports.
Volatility can be observed in the unpredictability of game outcomes, as underdogs triumph against all odds, and champions falter in unexpected defeats.
Uncertainty looms large, as unexpected injuries and last-minute lineup changes can drastically alter a team’s prospects.
Complexity arises from intricate strategies, ever-evolving rules, and the intricate interplay of individual skills within a collective effort.
Ambiguity arises as players and coaches navigate the gray areas of refereeing decisions, not knowing how other teams are innovating, and the intangible factors that can sway the course of a game.
To thrive in this VUCA environment, athletes, coaches, and sports organizations must adopt a mindset that embraces change and disruption.
High-performance teams need to have different approaches to problem solving in their toolbox.
Paradox of the Red Queen Effect in a VUCA Environment
In the dynamic and unpredictable landscape of sports, the Red Queen Effect introduces a paradox that is amplified by the VUCA operating environment.
The paradox of the Red Queen Effect is that on the one hand, in order to progress and stay ahead in a rapidly changing environment, individuals and organizations must constantly adapt and improve. However, the very pursuit of progress in a VUCA environment increases risks such as poor performance, injury, and job insecurity.
One of the foremost risks that arises from this paradox is the potential for poor performance. The volatile and uncertain nature of sports means that the strategies and techniques that led to success in the past may quickly become obsolete. Athletes, coaches, and sports organizations must continuously adapt and innovate to stay ahead of the competition.
In this way, the Red Queen Effect poses a heightened risk to job security. The ever-evolving sporting landscape demands that coaches, team management, and even athletes themselves continuously stay abreast of emerging trends, technologies, and strategies.
Failure to adapt and demonstrate progress can result in the loss of job opportunities or being left behind by more agile and forward-thinking competitors.
However, this constant evolution introduces a level of unpredictability, and there is always the possibility that new approaches may not yield immediate success. At the elite and professional levels of sport, failures in the game and poor performance aren’t tolerated for long.
In addition to poor performance, the risk of injury is also exacerbated in a VUCA environment. As athletes strive for progress, they may be inclined to take greater risks, pushing their physical limits. Injuries can derail careers, disrupt team dynamics, and have long-lasting effects on an individual’s well-being.
This paradox demands a delicate navigation of the risks associated with progress. Poor performance, injuries, and job insecurity are heightened in the face of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity.
However, embracing the need for progress, while being mindful of the associated risks, allows individuals and organizations to thrive amidst the ever-changing sporting landscape.
Progress in Elite Sport: The Innovate-or-Die Mentality
In the highly competitive world of sports the drive to improve is paramount. Coaches and athletes are constantly seeking ways to outperform their rivals, driven by the need to secure their positions and contracts.
When my team was first hired to work with the Chinese Olympic Committee inn 2013 there was an expectation that we would change the way they did things with new, “innovative” methods.
This made it the default problem solving approach and the expectation of the client.
However, the pursuit of innovation must be grounded in a deeper understanding of how it truly works. There were inherent risks in trying to change a sports culture in a very different societal culture.
Coming into an established team, and asking the coaches and athletes to just accept entirely different training and rehabilitation methods could lead to a lot of resistance and failure.
So we found oursleves needing some first principles about innovation and progress.
To navigate this terrain effectively, it was essential to go beyond the surface-level jargon and delve into the underlying principles of innovation.
The Progress Strategies Matrix: Navigating the Path to Improvement
Recognizing the need for a practical framework to guide our progress strategies in sports, we developed the Progress Strategies Matrix.
Instead of just accepting the push for “innovative” ideas, we looked for existing frameworks and history of progress. Exploring the fields of business and technology gave us a lot of insight and a great starting point to create our working model.
This matrix comprises two main factors: technology/methodology and problem/market. By understanding the interaction between these factors, coaches, teams, and organizations can chart a course towards advancement in their respective fields.
Technology/Methodology Axis: How to Solve Problems
The horizontal axis of the matrix focuses on the means of problem-solving. HOW we are doing it.
It encompasses the use of technology and the application of systematic methodologies.
In sports, new technologies continuously emerge, providing opportunities for training and rehabilitation advancements. From GPS and accelerometers to low-level laser therapy and stem cells, these technologies can revolutionize performance.
Simultaneously, methodologies play a vital role in achieving desired outcomes, encompassing traditional strength training methods, speed training practices, and pain reduction techniques in rehabilitation settings.
Problem/Market Axis: What Needs to Be Done
The vertical axis of the matrix addresses the problems coaches and teams seek to solve or the markets they aim to penetrate. WHAT problem are we trying to solve?
Traditionally, expanding markets has been a common business approach. Translated to sports, it means applying existing solutions to different problems or exploring new markets for existing methodologies or technologies.
On the other hand, identifying novel problems within the sports domain and developing new solutions to address them represents a creative and entrepreneurial approach.
The Four Strategies for Making Progress
By intersecting the technology/methodology and problem/market axes, the Progress Strategies Matrix outlines four distinct strategies for making progress: iteration, translation, innovation, and creation.
In our quest to stay in the game or get an advantage we can employ any of these strategies. They serve as guideposts, helping us navigate complex challenges and unlocking new possibilities.
Each strategy brings its unique strengths and risks, offering a rich tapestry of options to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of performance and success.
So lets peel back the layers of each strategy, uncovering their nuances, and discovering the profound impact they can have on our endeavors.
Iteration: The Power of Small Steps
In the pursuit of progress and innovation in sports, the allure of bold, sweeping changes often captures our attention. We envision revolutionary breakthroughs that will propel us to new heights of performance.
However, amidst this eagerness for grand transformations, we often overlook the power of small, incremental steps — iterations — that can lead to significant advancements over time.
Iteration is not about flashy overhauls or dramatic reinventions. It is a methodical process of making gradual improvements to existing methods, techniques, and technologies.
It recognizes that progress often comes from a series of small adjustments, refining and honing our approach one step at a time.
One of the iterations in our training methodologies over the last 20 years was the growing use of eccentrics and isometrics in strength training rehab.
We knew why we thought these methods could have a really big impact and be really innovative. But, we didn’t throw out existing methodologies and replace them with just eccentric and isometric exercises.
Instead, over years we were able to add some of those elements and reduce others. Along the way we measured strength qualities, looked at performance numbners, and got feedback from athletes and coaches.
Strength gains, functional & perfomrance outcomes, and subjective feedback accumulated. And sometimes they didn’t, or athletes didn’t like how the training felt. So both successes and failures drove the iterations.
One of the key benefits of iteration is its reduced risk compared to more radical approaches. While bold innovations carry a higher chance of failure, iterations offer a safer path forward. We could have just made a wholesale replacement of traditional strength training with isometrics and eccentric exercises.
But we know that is not the optimal solution. Its a mix and variance of the methods. There are times where those same beneficial eccentric exercises, could be deterimental.
By implementing incremental changes, we mitigated the potential negative impact of a single large-scale failure.
This enabled us to maintain performance while seeking marginal gains that, over time, whcih accumulate into significant improvements.
Small adjustments to training regimens, equipment, or techniques can lead to significant gains over time. Iteration serves as a foundation for progress, providing a safe and controlled environment to refine performance strategies.
Translation: Applying Solutions Across Domains
Translation involves applying existing methods or technologies to new problems or markets. In the sports context, this strategy entails adapting successful approaches from one sport to another or leveraging existing technologies to solve new problems.
As you rise to the level of elite aport, you find athletes, coaches, and performance professionals with a vast array of skills, strategies, and techniques. Those have been honed and perfected within their specific disciplines.
Time and again, I’ve encountered coaches and athletes operating within their respective domains, only drawing upon knowledge and expertise in their particular sport.
However, there is untapped potential in the power of translation — applying solutions and insights from one domain to another — to drive innovation and uncover new possibilities for success.
Translation involves identifying and extracting valuable principles, concepts, and practices from one context and adapting them to another.
It recognizes that while sports may differ in their specific rules and dynamics, there are underlying principles that transcend disciplines.
Cross-Pollination of Ideas
By embracing this cross-pollination of ideas, coaches and athletes can unlock fresh perspectives and introduce novel approaches to their own sports.
At its core, translation is about recognizing patterns and analogies between seemingly disparate domains. It requires a keen eye for similarities and the ability to extract relevant lessons from unrelated contexts.
By studying other sports, industries, or even unrelated fields of study, we can gain a broader understanding of effective strategies and tactics that can be adapted to our own sporting endeavors.
For instance, consider the translation of strength training concepts. Strength training was not always part and parcel in sport or rehabilitation.
But some coaches and athletes recognized that athletes in weightlifting and power lifting were using training methods that could benefit them as well.
While that may sound obvious and rudimentary to many, its entirely out of the question for many.
I was consulting with one of the Chinese national teams. They wanted to understand the concepts of explosive lifting to build strength and power. They literally said they didn’t have that knowledge in China.
A few hundred meters across the Olympic training center was the Weightlifting training hall. Here were 50 or so of the best weightlifters in the world, a history of results spanning decades, and coaches with decades of experience.
And yet, they had never considered talking with those coaches. Many coaches in one sport, have no inkling they could learn from other sports.
I’ve had the fotunate expereince of working aross sports like track & field, sprint canoe & kayak, track cycling, and rowing. While all are very different, they all deal with the concepts of speed and energy systems outputs across the time frame of a race.
An innovative approach to quanitfying and measuring efforts above an athletes max aerobic speed is called the Anaerobic Speed (Power) Reserve. While developed in running, I’ve been fortunate to be involved in efforts to translate the concept and science in rowing and cycling.
There is so much to learn just by looking beyond your sport.
Beyond Sport
Moreover, the power of translation extends beyond the realm of sports-specific knowledge. Many professionals in high-performance sport only attend conferences, read, and learn with-in their domain.
By exploring diverse domains, coaches and athletes can tap into a rich tapestry of human experiences and perspectives. The insights gained from fields as varied as business, entertainment, neuroscience, and sociology can shed light on the complexities of human performance.
New disciplines are capable of offering new avenues for optimizing training programs, enhancing mental resilience, and fostering a culture of high-performance excellence.
Translation is not limited to training, rehabilitation, and coaching methods alone; it can also encompass broader concepts such as leadership, team dynamics, and mental preparation. Translating a process or technology from the business world, military strategies, or even artistic endeavors can inspire fresh thinking and innovation within the sports realm.
A compelling example of translation is found in the story of “Moneyball.” Coined by Michael Lewis in his best-selling book, “Moneyball” is the application of data analytics in the realm of baseball.
Traditionally, talent scouts and managers relied on subjective judgments and conventional wisdom to evaluate players and make crucial decisions.
However, by examining baseball through the lens of data analytics, Beane and his team unearthed hidden patterns and undervalued player attributes that had been overlooked by the industry for years.
They questioned long-held assumptions and implemented a statistical approach that prioritized players with a high on-base percentage, rather than relying on more traditional metrics like batting average or home runs.
Through this translation of data analytics into the world of baseball, the Athletics defied expectations and achieved remarkable success, challenging the dominance of larger-market teams with greater financial resources.
By transferring knowledge and practices between domains, coaches and teams can capitalize on existing expertise while addressing new challenges. Translation offers a balance between familiarity and novelty, enabling incremental progress through lateral thinking.
Innovation: Embracing the New
Innovation can be a driving force behind breakthroughs in performance, strategies, equipment, and training methods.
Where Translation used existing methods on a new problem, this approach entails using new methods or technology to solve existing problems.
Coaches and teams employing innovative strategies actively seek out emerging technologies or methodologies that have the potential to revolutionize their field.
At the heart of innovation lies a mindset of curiosity and openness. Innovators are constantly asking questions and exploring uncharted territories.
They possess a genuine thirst for knowledge and a willingness to challenge established norms. By adopting this mindset, coaches and athletes can break free from the confines of tradition and embrace the possibilities that lie beyond.
Just like in Creativity, of the key elements of fostering Innovation is creating an environment that encourages experimentation and risk-taking. And let’s face it, this is not something that is always embraced when you, the team, and the athletes have already had success with past methods.
Innovation also thrives on collaboration and the exchange of ideas. By bringing together individuals from diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise, coaches and athletes can tap into a wealth of perspectives and experiences.
Interdisciplinary teams, comprising experts from sports science, psychology, technology, and other relevant fields, can fuel innovation by challenging assumptions and introducing fresh insights.
Another crucial aspect of fostering innovation is staying attuned to emerging trends and technologies. The sports landscape is constantly evolving, with new discoveries and innovations reshaping the way we compete and train. Coaches and athletes must actively seek out and embrace these advancements, leveraging them to gain a competitive edge. Whether it’s the use of data analytics to uncover performance patterns, the adoption of wearable technology to monitor and optimize training, or the exploration of cutting-edge training techniques, staying informed and willing to embrace these new tools is vital for innovation.
While innovation carries a higher risk than iteration or translation, it offers the promise of significant breakthroughs. It requires a willingness to explore uncharted territory, experiment with novel ideas, and accept the possibility of failure.
Creation: Forging New Paths
This is the sexy solution. Creation represents the most ambitious strategy, involving the development of entirely new ideas and applying them to new problems or markets.
True creativity demands high levels of risk-taking, imagination, and creative thinking to generate entirely novel ideas.
The allure is that by forging new paths, teams, coaches and athletes can discover untapped potential, revolutionize their approach, and leave a lasting impact on their sport.
But this also means challenging existing structures and systems. It requires a critical examination of established norms and a willingness to question their relevance and effectiveness. That’s risky.
Another crucial element in forging new paths is whether the organization or the people have a culture of creativity and experimentation. For creativity there needs to be an environment where coaches and professionals feel encouraged to think outside the box, explore innovative ideas, and push the boundaries of what is considered possible.
This requires embracing a growth mindset, where failures and setbacks are viewed as learning opportunities rather than roadblocks.
Creativity is markedly enhanced through collaboration and the power of collective intelligence. Collaboration allows for the cross-pollination of ideas, the challenging of assumptions, and the generation of novel solutions to complex problems.
However, many professionals and organizations do not have the level of open communication and collaboration needed for this. Too often members “stay in their lane” because its safer or the team culture enforces it.
Frankly, they don’t have the necessary level of mutual trust of respect to challenge assumptions, and generate novel solutions to complex problems.
By encouraging a culture of continuous learning and improvement, and a willingness to look at failures as growth, organizations and coaches can foster an atmosphere that nurtures creativity and fuels the pursuit of new paths.
The Risks of Blind Innovation
In the blind pursuit of innovation, the risks of failure are often overlooked or underestimated.
The allure of novelty and the promise of improvement can blind athletes and teams to the potential consequences of their actions. Rapid changes in techniques, training methods, or equipment may disrupt established systems, undermine performance consistency, and even lead to injury.
Furthermore, the constant pursuit of innovation can result in a lack of focus and mastery of fundamentals, neglecting the solid foundation necessary for sustainable success.
All four strategies have different risks.
Iteration: While the strategy of iteration offers numerous benefits, there are inherent risks involved as well.
One risk is the possibility of getting stuck in a cycle of incremental improvements without achieving significant breakthroughs. By focusing solely on small steps, there is a risk of losing sight of the bigger picture and failing to address underlying systemic issues.
Additionally, excessive iteration without clear direction or purpose can lead to inefficiency and wasted resources.
Translation: The strategy of translation also carries certain risks.
One risk is the potential for overlooking the unique context and intricacies of each domain. Solutions that work well in one domain may not necessarily translate seamlessly to another.
There is a risk of oversimplifying complex problems or disregarding the nuances that make each domain distinct.
Moreover, applying solutions across domains without careful consideration can result in unintended consequences or unforeseen challenges.
Innovation: While innovation is often associated with progress, it is not without its risks. One risk is the possibility of investing significant resources into unproven ideas or technologies that may not yield the desired outcomes.
Pursuing innovation can be costly and time-consuming, and there is no guarantee of success.
Additionally, there is a risk of resistance and skepticism from stakeholders who may be resistant to change or unfamiliar with new approaches.
Innovation requires navigating uncertainty and managing the potential for failure.
Creation: Trying to be truly creative probably runs the highest risk of failure.
One risk is the challenge of overcoming resistance to change.
Breaking away from established norms and traditions can be met with opposition and skepticism. There may be resistance from athletes, coaches, or governing bodies who are reluctant to deviate from the familiar.
Another risk is the potential for failure when venturing into uncharted territory. Exploring new paths inherently involves uncertainty, and there is a risk of setbacks or unforeseen obstacles along the way.
The pursuit of improvement, innovation, and forging new paths requires a willingness to embrace uncertainty and navigate the challenges that arise.
With a thoughtful and strategic approach, these risks can be managed, and the potential rewards can be realized
Embracing Risk, Embracing Reality
The pursuit of progress and innovation in sports cannot be divorced from the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) nature of the industry. Change inherently carries risk, and the sports environment is no exception.
Recognizing the risks associated with blind innovation, it is crucial to strike a balance between novelty and stability in high-performance sports.
While innovation should not be discouraged, it must be approached with caution and a deep understanding of the potential ramifications.
High-performance teams, professionals, and athletes must carefully assess the level of risk they are willing to embrace and evaluate the potential impact of failure. After all, if you get it wrong, you might quickly be out of a job.
By understanding the different strategies for making progress, teams can make informed decisions and avoid falling into the trap of blind adherence to innovation for its own sake.
When things are working well, and the level of performance is already high, Iteration may be the defgault approach.
Emphasizing stability, consistency, and mastery of foundational skills provides athletes and teams with a solid platform to build upon, ensuring sustainable success in the long term.
Conclusion: Navigating the Landscape of Progress
Innovation in sports is not a one-size-fits-all solution; it is a nuanced and complex endeavor.
By embracing the concepts presented in this article, coaches and organizations can chart their course towards progress with greater clarity and purpose.
Iteration, translation, innovation, and creation each have their place on the path to improvement, and their suitability depends on the specific context and goals.
Rather than succumbing to the buzzword trap, coaches and athletes can leverage the Progress Strategies Matrix to make informed decisions and pursue progress in a dynamic and ever-evolving sports landscape.
