20 août 2013

TRIATHLON AND PETER PRINCIPLE


Originally, it was thought that this principle was just for enterprises but accomplishes many people in society, and to apply it to triathletes is not farfetched.  After being juniors competing in triathlon, a different set of skills are needed to make the step to elite.  I am not discovering a black thread, but I am trying to make a point of what has happened to us.

The employee's incompetence is not necessarily a result of the higher-ranking position being more difficult. It may be that the new position requires different work skills which the employee may not possess. For example, an engineer with great technical skill might get promoted to project manager, only to discover he lacks the interpersonal skills required to lead a team.
Thus, "work is accomplished by those employees who have not yet reached their level of incompetence."

This principle is present in triathlon when speaking about high performance sport.  As any endeavor, we need special skills in order to succeed, and triathlon skills are related to technique.  This means timing while doing procedures.  We need a very organized person to be successful to master high skill techniques.  It is just as Paul Bergen said when asked about the difference in training of a Mexican swimmer compared to one in the USA.  He said timewise is the same thing, effort is the same, but “I´ll give you an example, when you teach somebody to play piano and take into consideration the time of training; when he/she is asked to play the 9th symphony of Beethoven a year later, whoever was programed and worked to accomplish the symphony is going to succeed.  That is the difference: ‘the time employed on the plan to accomplish the task.’  You need skills to accomplish good technique other that what people call talent:  organizational skills, programming skills, etc.  In the third world countries the skills are not there most of the time.  That is what Paul Bergen tried to say:
Paul Bergen
Paul Bergen is an Olympic swimming coach from the United States. He has coached in the USA and Canada, winning coach of the year honors in both countries in different years.[1] He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an Honor Coach in 1988.[2] He has coached swimmers to 21 World, 24 USA and 13 Canadian records.[1]
Among the athletes he has coached are: Deena Deardurff,.[3] Tracy Caulkins and Inge de Bruijn. He has coached with the Cincinnati Marlins in Ohio, Nashville Aquatic Club in Tennessee, the University of Texas, Tualatin Hills in Oregon, and Etobicoke in Ontario, Canada.[1]
He served on USA coaching staffs to World Championships in 1975, 1978 and 1982, and with Canada in 1986.[2] He was an Olympic coach in 1980, 1984, 1988 and 2000.[1]
We are this moment, trying to know how to proceed to make the next move to elite level.  Having an environment and successful adults is necessary for this next move.  Please see the video below when he speaks about "kicking a death horse."

http://blip.tv/swimmingworldtv/ready-room-interview-paul-bergen-3866587





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