This week I'm thinking about Agility and the concept of “Failing Fast and Learning Quick” again. In my previous IT career I was fascinated by the parallels between the sporting world and software development. I’m now thinking about how we can apply these concepts to our personal lives. I've read a lot about the mindset and methodologies employed in Formula 1, British Cycling and Olympic Rowing. These are sports that thrive on marginal gains and epitomise the ethos of fail fast, learn quick.
I've been obsessed with Formula 1 since a young age; not only with the spectacle, the drama, and the charisma of the drivers...but the technology, the science, the reasons some teams are great and some are mediocre. I've been contemplating the difference between the great teams and the also rans this week. Nicholas Lattifi was slowest on the grid in the 2020 Austrian grand prix, with a time of 1:05.737; interestingly this was fast enough to have been on pole position in 2017 - Valtteri Bottas qualified on pole in 2017 with a time of 1:05.760. Williams are not bad at creating fast race cars, they suffer from a lack of Agility; they're simply 3 years behind Mercedes. An important consideration for the highly competitive software industry, but what about our personal lives?
Have you ever looked at people you know and been frustrated or jealous that they appear to be winning at life much more that you? Do you know anyone that always seem to land on their feet, get all the luck, or appear to sail through life on a breeze?
Mercedes F1 chief Toto Wolff indicates success is “not about the strongest, but about the most adaptable”; with a rapidly changing world over the last 2 years we’ve all been forced to be more adaptable. I’ve worked with many people who have struggled with that forced change. Fear of further change after the Christmas period is causing a lot of people anxiety right now. But perhaps if we can be a little more agile, reduce the pressure a bit, and have some back up plans we’ll feel a little more at ease. Its important to have goals, and have some small steps planned to work towards those goals. Recognising we might want or to need to change plans as we move forward is important as we, and our environments evolve. Recognising when things are not right, and not being afraid to change them quickly is a key to avoiding unnecessary setbacks, anxiety and stress.
We all have subconscious blocks that are recorded as programmes in our subconscious throughout our lives, even from before we're born. These "faulty programmes" cause anxiety, stress, depression, procrastination and sometimes much more serious symptoms. It's these faulty programmes that cause us to fear change. In my next blog I'll be talking more about the physiology of the subconscious and how we can overcome these blocks.
