‘The book started because I stumbled on a really good question. And the question that I stumbled on was what's the most pressure you've ever been under?
The story that I heard back in response to that question was so good that I started asking every interesting person I could find about the most pressure they'd ever been under. And over time I thought, you know what? There's a lot of power to this question because on the other side of it, no matter who you ask, there is a really good story. And typically that story contains some really interesting insights into what creates pressure, the impact of pressure, and how people manage it.
The first thing that you realize when you ask enough people this question is that pressure doesn't fit in a box. Pressure spans the total human experience.
And at the same time, as different as these experiences are, when you step back and ask it enough times, the helpful thing is you start to see some patterns emerge. There are undoubtedly patterns in what causes pressure and the things that we do to try to manage it that can either help or hurt.’
How can we harness the positive powers of pressure? How can we mitigate the negative effects of pressure when the stakes are high?
Dane Jensen is the CEO of Third Factor, an instructor at Queen’s University and the University of North Carolina, and author of The Power of Pressure. In this podcast with Deloitte’s Geoff Tuff and Thinkers50’s Stuart Crainer, he explains that pressure is a function of three things: importance - how much the outcome matters to you; uncertainty - lack of surety about the eventual result; and volume - how many high-stakes situations you face.
Although pressure can be hugely destructive and lead to anxiety and burnout, Dane argues that it can also be hugely elevating. Being an emotional energy, pressure can be harnessed for peak performance. There are more world records set at the Olympic Games - one of the most pressure-packed environments - for example, than anywhere else in the world of sport.
Listen to the podcast to find out the differences between pressure and stress, peak pressure and long-haul pressure, and the meaning of the ‘third factor.’
This episode will be available on 12 June 2024.
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