Enabling people to develop their skills and capabilities is essential for high performance in organizations. In the long term, it can provide a competitive advantage. In the short and long term, it can enable people to perform their best through their pursuit of Mastery. Along with Autonomy and Purpose, Mastery is one of our needs that enables self-actualization. This is how we achieve our full potential. Self-actualization is our highest level need from Maslow’s work on human motivation. When people fulfill their needs for Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose they perform better. More on Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose and intentionally enabling people to fulfill these needs can be found in one of my earlier writings in this linked post. 

We pursue mastery through learning and improving our skills. While some people find opportunities to learn in every situation, as leaders we should intentionally create the conditions that enable everyone to optimize their learning and pursuit of mastery.

There are many aspects to creating these conditions. First off is understanding the learner’s mindset. This goes beyond identifying if the learner has a Growth Mindset. It is about understanding under which conditions the learner has a Growth or Fixed Mindset. The goal should be to provide the conditions for a Growth Mindset. Carol Dweck’s book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success explains Growth and Fixed Mindsets. More on the role of a Growth Mindset in lean can be found in one of my earlier writings in this linked post.

Understanding the conditions that enable a Growth Mindset is where Psychological Performance Zones come into play. Building off of the Yerkes-Dodson Law (1908), Karl Rohnke developed this framework the 1980s, through “challenge by choice” research in the outdoor adventure field. These zones represent the stress a particular situation is creating for an individual. In your Comfort Zone you are doing work that is stress free. If the work you are doing is something you already know, understand well, and are comfortable with you will do little to no learning or growing.

To optimize learning and growth in the pursuit of Mastery, we need to create the conditions for people to be stretched outside of their Comfort Zone. The Optimal Performance Zone is the “sweet spot” we want to play in. This is where people perform their best and learn the fastest. When playing in our Optimal Performance Zone, we are operating with a Growth Mindset. That said, there is a limit to the benefits of stress stretching us on improving performance and learning. If we are pushed too far, we will be overstressed and find ourselves in our Danger Zone. Once we enter the Danger Zone, we will shut down, not perform well, and stop learning.

The people that “sink” when thrown into a “sink or swim” situation, are in their Danger Zone. The assumption when putting someone in this situation is that it will be at the edge of their Optimal Performance Zone, but that doesn’t always happen. Leaders creating this situation usually do it with the best of intentions not realizing they are throwing people into their Danger Zone. The people that “swim” and experience substantial learning are in their Optimal Performance Zone. We should strive to create the conditions for people to learn in their Optimal Performance Zone, which starts with understanding which zone a situation puts them in. So, while this may be a great framework, how do we put it into practice? How can we begin to understand what the Optimal Performance Zone is for those that we support or lead?

One of the best ways to understand a framework is to reflect on how our personal experiences fit into it. In the spirit of the outdoor adventure research that brought this framework to life, I am sharing my personal outdoor adventure stories to illustrate this framework. I encourage you to reflect on how your own experiences fit into it. Understanding it on a personal level, will better enable you to use the framework to intentionally create the conditions for people to learn and grow.

I love hiking. The first serious hike I did was to the bottom of the Grand Canyon in March 2012, with a group of experienced hikers. I was excited for the adventure that was pushing me out of my Comfort Zone. And then the snow came. That unexpected weather put me well beyond my Comfort Zone; I was wondering if we were crazy. It seemed that every other group, except mine, was canceling their hike because of the conditions. What did they know that I didn’t know? While I enjoyed the beauty of the snow-covered canyon before we got started, I was thinking about how I was going to die because we would be hiking through a couple feet of snow on top of ice. This was a rational conclusion for someone with minimal hiking experience, who is afraid of heights. I was in my danger zone! What helped me overcome my fears is that I wasn’t alone on this hike. I was with far more experienced hikers, who I trusted. They supported me, which along with taking a few steps into the snow and ice with the right gear, pulled me into my Optimal Performance Zone and enabled me to take on and enjoy the hike. It was beautiful and an incredible three day adventure!  

So, what does this have to do with learning, or lean, or any other continuous improvement approach? The psychology behind what enables us to perform our best is the same, whether it is hiking, continuous improvement, or any other form of learning. When someone is in their Danger Zone, what can you do to support them – to help them move into their Optimal Performance Zone?

As we learn and grow, work that is currently in our Optimal Performance Zone will become comfortable for us over time. And what is currently in our Danger Zone can begin to move into our Optimal Performance Zone. As we learn, grow, and develop our skills, we need to take on increasingly greater challenges if we want to continue developing and pursuing Mastery.

Back to my Grand Canyon hiking story. Hiking on ice in March 2012 was in my Danger Zone. With the support of my team, I was able to move into my Optimal Performance Zone. Through experience and growth in my hiking ability, hiking on ice is now well into my Comfort Zone. In March 2020, I thought nothing of hiking on ice on the West Rim Trail at Zion National Park.

Another shift in Psychological Performance Zones for me is my comfort with large drop-offs, which are common when hiking. I am currently comfortable on hikes with large drop-offs – as long as the drop-off is only on one side. This wasn’t always the case. My comfort with one-sided drop offs grew with hiking experience. A few years ago, I stayed close to the protected side of the trail. Now, I’m comfortable taking the drop-off side when passing other hikers. Drop-offs on both sides on narrow trails is still very much in my Danger Zone.

Everyone’s performance zones are different. What is in your Comfort or Optimal Performance Zone may be in my Danger Zone. This is the case for me with hiking Angel’s Landing at Zion National Park. I have had countless people tell me I would love that hike. This is an assumption made based on their knowledge of my love of hiking, but without knowledge of my fear of heights. It is a narrow trail, with chains, with 1000 ft drop-offs on both sides, and is way too crowded – it is so far into my Danger Zone!

That is a harmless example of assessing someone else’s Performance Zones. But how often do we unintentionally put someone in the situation where they are in their Danger Zone, while assuming we are putting them in their Optimal Performance Zone? My sense is it happens more frequently than we realize. I think a lot of times when people “sink” in “sink or swim” situations, it is because we have unintentionally thrown them into their Danger Zone. And most organizations haven’t created the Psychological Safety for people to raise the flag that they are in their Danger Zone. If we did, we wouldn’t need cultures of “fake it till you make it.” We shouldn’t make assumptions on what someone else’s Performance Zones are.

We should intentionally create the space to understand with them what their Performance Zones are. And when we find that someone is in their Danger Zone, we should provide support to move them into their Optimal Performance Zone. How can we intentionally create a culture where people can stop “faking it” and ask for the help they need to leave their “Danger Zone” and get the support they need to perform their best?

Angel’s Landing at Zion National Park is an iconic hike that many avid hikers want to take on as a challenge – that is why it is crowded. I am an avid hiker who has no desire for that. I am far more interested in improving my performance to take on hikes with higher elevation gains and longer distances. I far prefer continuing on the West Rim Trail at Zion National Park enjoying the views from the Rim of the Canyon, skipping Angel’s Landing entirely. When I did that in March (which I am especially grateful for since it was one week before everything changed with shelter in place orders), I covered over 17 miles with nearly 4,000 ft in elevation gain and loss. This is what I’m looking for as a challenge to play in my Optimal Performance Zone. Now I’m thinking about a Grand Canyon North Rim to South Rim hike as my next post-pandemic challenge as my Optimal Performance Zone grows.

Not everyone’s development path is or should be the same. We need to take that into consideration and not make assumptions about the path or objectives other people have for themselves. How can we understand what people want for themselves, and provide opportunities for them to grow, develop, and learn to get there? Further, as the reality of our situations change, how can we continue to grow, develop, and learn in our pursuit of mastery?

My opportunity to take long hikes with significant elevation change has been interrupted, as I don’t venture far from home in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. This has led me to find a new challenge to continue to grow. I took up trail running, something that was in my Danger Zone a few months ago.  This has also reinforced how much Angel’s Landing at Zion National Park is in my Danger Zone. When I fell running on a trail last month, I was able to get up, dust myself off, and run another four miles. That’s not happening if I fall on the Angel’s Landing trail – 1000 ft drop-offs on both sides! How can we create the opportunities for people to continue to grow, develop, learn, and pursue Mastery as our reality changes?

What will you do to intentionally create the conditions to enable optimal learning? Will you use the Psychological Performance Zone framework in discussions about the work? If work is in someone’s Comfort Zone, will you create other opportunities for learning? If work is in someone’s Danger Zone, how will you provide support to move them into their Optimal Performance Zone?

All of this assumes people are ready to learn and grow. That might not be the case if they are focused on meeting their basic needs. If that is the situation, we can show Respect by providing work that is in their Comfort Zone. More on showing Respect through understanding people’s needs can be found in one of my earlier writings in this linked post.