Darren Shand argues that high performance centers on human performance, placing the athlete at the forefront of decision-making. He contrasts this sports-focused, outcome-driven innovation (where small margins demand continual experimentation) with business environments that prioritize vertical power structures, shareholders, and quarterly reporting, which can distract from serving performance outcomes.
High performance is about human performance. So bring the human into the equation. We put the athlete at the top of all of our thinking, like, how can we get the athlete better? And I think in business, we don't, because we have a lot of vertical power and leadership. We have shareholders, we have quarterly reporting. And why? What does it do? How does it serve us? Does it drive success? And that's the great thing in sport. You can be very innovative. You can do what you like, really. Because as long as you've got the outcome in mind and getting ready for that performance, you have to keep trying things, because it moves so fast, and as I said, the margins are so little that you've got to keep searching for those little things.
