#abbotsthon17: some fledgling ideas

I have been invited to participate in the HPX 2017 Knowledge Exchange Conference in Dublin in October.

This is the first time the Sport Ireland Institute and Sport Ireland Coaching have joined together to co-host the HPX conference.

The conference web site has been launched with a link to the program. I have an opportunity to share some ideas in a presentation on the first morning of the conference (6 October) after the morning tea break. My working title is Performance Analysis and Data Analytics: Are We There Yet?

Thanks to Alan Swanton, I am also facilitating the #abbotsthon17 on the day before the conference. It is my take on a hackathon to explore how a community of practice of performance analysts might come together to share their experiences.

This is a fledgling idea at the moment but my aspirations are that the hackathon might be:

  • an open invitation
  • free
  • an opportunity to explore a different approach to sharing experiences

I trust the conversations will take us in directions participants agree are of interest.

My hope is that the day provides the psychological oxygen Lars Johannesen describes. As a group we might be “supported through recognition, the sense of belonging, of being a part of something bigger than yourself” … and “being pushed out of your comfort zone regularly and in an appropriate manner”.

I am going to be discussing open sharing so I hope the day is available to as many people as possible who have an interest in the observation and analysis of performance. I am hopeful too there is no fee for the workshop. Participants have to meet their own travel and accommodation costs and I am keen that they do not have an additional cost.

I aim to support the workshop and my presentation with resources shared in advance.

As I get older I hope to share with others the fallibility of practice and the possibilities that emerge from appreciative inquiry. I do feel confident about this approach … particularly as my experiences as a volunteer firefighter in Australia have encouraged me to think about agile responses to dynamic situations.

The #abbotsthon17 event will have this edge. I am excited where it might take us and how it might become a reflection on the way each person acts in their daily environment.

The starting idea for the day is What is so important we have to share it?

I have another three months to develop and share these fledgling ideas before they take flight.

Photo Credit

Real-time monitoring (Firstbeat)

Some Champions Trophy 2017 Performance Profiles

The 2017 Champions Trophy was won by Pakistan in a final against India on 18 June at The Oval.

During the tournament, there were nine games completed without reference to Duckworth-Lewis-Stern scores. My record of these nine games is:

From these data, my median profiles of winners and losers were:

I was interested to look at the performance of Pakistan and India against these profiles to reflect on where the final might have been won or lost.

Pakistan

India

Photo Credit

The Kia Oval (Gareth Williams, CC BY 2.0)

Technocracy and Transparency

Last weekend, I had an opportunity to listen to Radio National’s Saturday Extra program. One of the items was a conversation between the presenter, Geraldine Doouge, and Parag Khanna.

Their discussion about the characteristics of governance in Singapore and Switzerland encouraged me to think about how sport might benefit from a sensitive merging of enlightened investment in and engagement with technology with transparent discussions about decision-making and civic engagement.

Parag calls this merging ‘direct technocracy‘. He points out:

This approach combines the virtues of direct democracy with the benefits of meritocratic technocracy, which leverages data to make long-term, utilitarian decisions. Simply put, a direct technocracy marries good ideas and efficient execution.

I think the marriage of ‘good ideas and efficient execution’ is made possible by transparent discussion of the kind evident in ‘the hyper-democratic Switzerland’. Parag says of Switzerland and Singapore:

their records are impressive: both countries boast good health, ample wealth, low corruption, high employment, national military and civil services, and massive state investment in innovation. They respond efficiently to citizens’ needs and preferences, apply international experience to domestic policy making, and use data and alternative scenarios for long-term planning.

There is an interesting blend occurring here: ‘responsiveness’, ‘international experience’ and ‘long-term planning’. All of which encourage me to think about how we adapt better practice to local circumstances.

It seems to me that given the opportunities sport has to generate data, a ‘direct technocracy’ responsiveness to long-term performance should have immense appeal.  I sense that this requires us to re-imagine how we lead and follow in sport organisations.

Photo Credits

Singapore Night (Bailey Cheng, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Switzerland (KP Tripathi, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)