Let’s take a look at some interesting research conducted by Dr Daniel Kirschenbaum, a sports psychologist at the University of Wisconsin in 1984. In this research Kirschenbaum videotaped groups of bowlers.

He then edited the tapes, creating two different versions. In one version, he deleted any examples of poor bowling performance, leaving only images of good bowling techniques. In the second version of the tape, he deleted any examples of good performance, leaving only images of poor bowling style.

Kirschenbaum then used the tapes to coach the same groups of bowlers. Some groups viewed the edited tape showing only examples of good bowling techniques. The coaching focused on repeating what had worked for them. Other groups viewed an edited tape, seeing only examples of poor bowling. Their coaching focused on not repeating prior mistakes.

Now which group of bowlers do you think improved their bowling performance? Those who focused on learning from their mistakes or those who learned from successful performance?

Well, those bowlers who viewed examples of their good bowling techniques showed as much as 100 per cent improvement in bowling scores, far more than the other group.

So the lesson we can take from this (and other similar studies) is that we perform better when we focus on our successes rather than our mistakes.

Likewise if you want to improve the performance of your staff then focus on what they are doing right rather than trying to correct what you think they are doing wrong.

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