_The Power of Full Engagement_
david ford
Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High
Performance and Personal Renewal_ (New York: Free Press), 245
pages. On 170-171, the section "The Rituals of Stress and
Recovery":
The most important role of rituals is to insure an effective
balance between energy expenditure and energy renewal in the
service of full engagement. All great performers have rituals
that optimize their ability to move rhythmically between stress
and recovery. Jim's discovery of the between-point recovery
rituals, used by nearly all top tennis players, is an especially
vivid example. In just sixteen to twenty seconds, these highly
precise rituals prompt a remarkably efficient form of recovery.
The same stress-recovery balance is critical in any venue that
demands performance. The more precise and effective our
recovery rituals, the more quickly we can restore our energy
reserves.
We have done a great deal of work with Wall Street traders,
for example, who must sit in front of their computer terminals
for long hours each day, and have very limited time for breaks.
When we first suggested that they needed to build more
recovery rituals into their days, they laughed at us. "We barely
have time to go to the bathroom," they told us. "How are we
going to take time for recovery?" We reminded them how
quickly and efficiently athletes are able to recover and pointed
out that even structured sixty- to ninety-second breaks
throughout the day could provide a great deal of renewal.
With our encouragement, they began devising their own
rituals. These ranged from sixty seconds of deep breathing to
putting on a Walkman and listening to a favorite song; from
making a quick call home to check in and connect with a
spouse or a child to walking up and down four flights of stairs;
from playing a video game on the computer screen to eating an
energy bar. The more scheduled and systematic these rituals
became, the more renewal they provided.
Peter D. is a writer who sought our advice at a time when he
was facing a highly challenging book deadline that he wasn't
sure he could meet. For years, Peter was used to putting in
long continuous hours at his word processor. The problem, he
told us, was that he found it hard to maintain his concentration,
particularly as the day wore on. Our goal was to help him to
shift from the mentality of a marathoner to that of a sprinter.
We worked with Peter to develop rituals that alternated periods
of intense engagement with relatively short but highly
structured periods of recovery.
Because Peter told us that he felt freshest early in the morning,
we had him begin his workdays at 6:30 A.M. and write for
ninety minutes before he did anything else. To minimize
distraction, he agreed to turn off his phone and not to check his
email during his writing hours. At 8:00 A.M., Peter stopped to
have breakfast with his wife and three children. We also
suggested that he shift from his previous routine of eating a
bagel or a muffin and a glass of orange juice, to the more
sustaining energy of a protein drink. Peter returned to work at
8:30 A.M. and wrote without interruption until 10:00. At that
point, he took a twenty-minute recovery break-- ten minutes of
training with light weights followed by ten minutes of
meditation. He also ate a piece of fruit or a handful of nuts
before heading back to his desk. Peter's third writing session
went from 10:30 until 12:00 NOON, at which point he went
jogging and then ate lunch. During those 4 1/2 hours of
focused morning work, Peter was able to write nearly twice as
much as had sitting at his desk for up to ten hours a day in
previous years. In the afternoons, he turned his attention to
reading and research for the book, and to other business. In
the evenings, feeling good about his productivity but also
reasonably rested, Peter still had the energy to focus on his
family.
The more exacting the challenge, the more rigorous our rituals
need to be. The preparation of soldiers for combat is a good
example. The rituals of basic training are so exacting--
especially in the Marines-- that soft, fearful and slovenly
teenagers can be transformed into lean, confident,
mission-driven soldiers in just eight to twelve weeks. Recruits
are compelled to build rituals in every dimension of their
lives-- how they walk and how they talk; what time they go to
bed and wake up; when and what they eat; how they take care
of their bodies and how they think and act under pressure.
This code of conduct makes it possible for them to do the right
thing at the right time even in the face of the most severe of all
stresses-- the threat of death.
From page 199:
Lifelong energy objective: To burn as brightly as possible for
as long as possible in the service of what really matters.
Table of Contents:
Part One: The Dynamics of Full Engagement
1 Fully Engaged: Energy, Not Time, Is Our Most Precious Resource
2 The Disengaged Life of Roger B.
3 The Pulse of High Performance: Balancing Stress and Recovery
4 Physical Energy: Fueling the Fire
5 Emotional Energy: Transforming Threat into Challenge
6 Mental Energy: Appropriate Focus and Realistic Optimism
7 Spiritual Energy: He Who Has a Why to Live
Part Two: The Training System
8 Defining Purpose: The Rules of Engagement
9 Face the Truth: How Are You Managing Your Energy Now?
10 Taking Action: The Power of Positive Rituals
11 The Reengaged Life of Roger B.
Resources:
Summary of the Corporate Athlete Full-Engagement Training System
Organizational Energy Dynamics
Most Important Physical Energy Management Strategies
Glycemic Index Examples
The Corporate Athlete Personal Development Plan of Roger B.
The Corporate Athlete Personal Development Plan Worksheet
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index