How To : Apply Your Mind, Skills & Strategies to Every Performance

Whether it's a Blue Ocean for your Business or a Differentiation Tactic for Yourself, sustaining an advantage over the long haul is kind of a big deal!

Graham Jones recently blogged on HBR.org regarding this exact point.  Remember how Malcolm Gladwell and other Top Ten Thinkers touted tips on how to stay on top? Well, Mr. Jones conducted a study on Superior Performance Intelligence (SPI) to nail down the MOJO he believes to be a form of wisdom, know-how, or intelligence.  He even finds it to be evident among the world's best athletes and has witnessed it among the best leaders and performers in work and military settings.  So, no matter your academic, athletic or professional prowess, you may want to get to know his know-how's!

Here's the Scoop on SPI's three core know-how's: 

1. Knowing how to maximize your potential, comprising three dimensions which reflect a self-knowledge and ability to self-regulate to realize your capability and potential: 'Knowing yourself', 'Stretching yourself', and 'Sustaining yourself'.
2. Knowing how to work with your environment, comprising three dimensions which involve knowing how to shape and use the performance environment to your advantage: 'Knowing your environment', 'Shaping your environment', and 'Being in tune with your environment'.
3. Knowing how to deliver top performance, comprising three dimensions around the process of performing to high levels on a consistent basis: "Planning and preparing," "Delivering," and "Evaluating."

A gap or weakness, says Mr. Jones, in any of the know-how's will jeopardize longevity at the top. He continues with a poignant observation: So for the next generation of global leaders, getting to the top and staying will be about much more than working hard and long. And it will be much more than being in the right place at the right time. A big factor will be developing the know-how or intelligence identified here.

Oof, heavy stuff! But coupling our B-school experience with the tools we've taken from the real world, we can certainly rise to the challenge, don't you think?