Achieving peak performance
The Sigmoid Curve, also known as the S-curve, is a mathematical function that can be used to describe how performance changes over time. It's a model that can be applied to many different areas, including business growth.
It’s used to demonstrate the fluctuations of performance over time and it’s a simple way to prove the old adage that ‘what got you here, won’t get you there’.
The forward-thinking organisations that I work with understand that to maintain high-performance within their industry, change needs to occur before peak performance is reached.
It’s very easy to look at this diagram and make an assumption that high-performance may never be achieved; however, the opposite is true. By recognising that the culture needs to continually evolve, performance will be maintained as employees never reach the point of decline (Point B) and leaders will not only engender trust, but also maintain integrity — both professionally and personally.
Unfortunately, most organisations wait until performance dips before making a change or just assume that the performance arc that they are on will naturally continue. It never does and waiting will make the recovery process significantly longer.
As highly-successful basketball coach Phil Jackson said in his book Eleven Rings, ‘The mistake that championship winning teams often make is to try to repeat their winning formula.’ There is no ‘one’ winning formula, culture is a never-ending (positive) evolution.
I have overlaid the phases from Bruce Tuckman's Team Performance Model (1965) to give you a sense of the stages of culture build and performance.
Where is your culture on the Sigmoid Curve right now?