I don't intend to inflicting my hobbies on all of you too often as make observations about process and other career development pieces - but last night watching UFC 129 I couldn't help but admire the process of Georges St. Pierre in comparison to many of his colleagues in mixed martial arts.
The fight last night itself is irrelevant here, but in watching GSP's approach to fights leading up to and during his reign as Welterweight champion I have always noticed his approach. He approaches each fight with a new play designed to exploit his opponents weaknesses and neutralize their strengths. Now you might say, "wait, doesn't this mean that his approach is inconsistent, reactive, and even lacks process?" Therein lies the subtle secret ingredient of his process.
GSP doesn't spend weeks in training camp preparing a predetermined combination of strikes and take-downs. His process isn't self-centered thus using only the knowledge of himself to prepare for the fight. His process is intentionally designed like a road map to navigate one particular opponent at a time. His preparations include knowing where he wants to fight his opponent and then preparing himself to make that happen. Granted, this is all possible because GSP is a gifted athlete who possesses immense strength and endurance, he is also well trained in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Karate, and wrestling. But his process of preparing for an opponent sets him apart from his colleagues.
Now I don't assume that all other mixed martial artists prepare using only a knowledge of themselves for a fight. They study tape of their opponent's previous fights, even their own and work to exploit weaknesses they find there. But GSP seems to be one step ahead with this. Take last night's fight as an example: the challenger, Jake Shields, would have fared far better in a fight on the canvas than in a striking match with GSP, but despite all of the work he probably put into his jiu-jitsu and conditioning training, he never came close to securing the kind of take-down that would push GSP into Shield's comfort zone. Meanwhile, GSP, knowing that his opponent could only win on the ground was razor sharp when it came to maintaining distance and stuffing take-down attempts.
In this way GSP's process cut off the process of Shields before it ever came to fruition. The result was exactly as GSP had hoped for in his retaining the welterweight championship. While the fight itself was likely boring for many to watch, it was, in many ways, a textbook lesson in process.
Things often look clearer for me when I look at them happening in sports. So how does GSP's "preemptive process" look in the business world? Well it might be in a salesperson setting a outbound call block for an afternoon when there isn't likely to be heavy foot-traffic. Or a nurse taking time in the morning to ensure that a hall closet is properly stocked with emergency tools in case something goes awry with the late-morning surgery.
What activities are part of your process that preemptively block out obstacles that you know you will likely face today?
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