The Truth Behind Efficiency

Efficiency is the true workhorse behind peak performance. It really doesn’t matter what the skill or vocation is, at some point your efficiency at the task is all that matters.

The truth about technique

There is a lot that goes into being efficient, many of them have to do with sequence, accuracy and consistency. To truly be efficient you must perform the tasks in the correct sequence. If you go out of sequence you run the risk of expending more time (ineffecient) going back to the correct sequence or going out of a sequences causes an error (also inefficient). When performing the tasks in proper sequence you must next perform them as accurately and timely as possible. If your attempts are littered with inaccuracies you will be inefficient and if you fail to execute in a timely manner you ultimately are inefficient. Lastly is the consistency. Being efficient doesn’t only apply to a single attempt, it applies to all attempts you could ever make. That truly defines the term efficiency.

The bitter truth

A few folks commented how there were other techniques that were “better” because a notable person has perfected the technique. I believe it is easy to make the assumption you could replicate the success without the time, experience and hard work. On the flip side, if you did invest the time to develop the experience of all that had work then this conversation would be mute because you would totally understand what I’m talking about. The fact is many folks will never be able to replicate those actions and that is not a bad thing by any means. Here is the key to this whole blog, it is not what I can do or anyone else can do for that matter, it is what I can get you to do.

More development truth

The focus on your development should be efficiency. The parts that make up the efficiency puzzle each require proficiency, mastery even better and therefore force you to developing an element of efficiency by nature. For instance, to be a fast runner you  will need to do many things, but at the top of that list is the aspect of running fast. It really is that simple, but it is also a little bit complicated. Part of running fast is not just moving your arms and legs fast, it is about achieving peak performance with each stride, each time your foot impacts the ground, each time your arm swings forward. There are subtle details that go into each of those components for you to be an efficient runner you will have to pay attention to at some point. In fact, running and shooting are a lot alike. Just about everyone can or at some point has done it, but it doesn’t make them a good runner or a good shooter.

Blissful truth and the finish line

When you are at the top of your game, in this case running, every detail is analyzed to ensure you are at peak performance and when a discrepancy is identified it is remedied. Imagine trying to run a marathon with an inefficient technique, talk about a suck fest. My good friend John Welbourn puts on a great seminar that I had the privilege of attending and while it may be geared towards football there were so many athletic parallels you cannot help but gain a major knowledge dump. What I particularly appreciated was the focus on running and in particular the most efficient means to running. Having spent my fair share of running in my life I figured I had achieved a fairly efficient technique. Wrong, it was very brutish and when I learned the proper technique it made a world of difference. I had to slow down and concentrate on the fundamentals, things like my torso’s attitude, my knee’s height and my arm’s movement. It took a few moments of concentrated effort. The payoff is huge, now I simply increased my strength to increase my speed all while keeping to the most efficient form.

So, when I hear folks comment about how much slower a technique is perceived I chuckle lightly. Efficiency is the ultimate goal in any skill, it really separates the men from the boys.