s, I could only expect to have little control over where I put the ball, and with little control I could only expect to have little predictability in my results - the distance between where I intended the ball to land and where the ball actually landed fluctuated randomly and wildly. Understanding (and measuring) your Recently I have been spending some time with my husband playing table tennis in our garage after work. I'm new to table tennis, so it's a steep learning curve. And even though a lot of my attention was on hitting the ball back and landing it on the table instead of skewing it off toward the tool rack or up into the fluorescent lights, I couldn't help reflecting on how similar the experience was to any kind of performance improvement in business. In fact, here are the six tips that learning table tennis (or trying anything new) can teach us about improving the performance of anything:

Tip #1: Be very clear what result you want.

When you start out with something new, aiming to be the best at it straight away is not what I call realistic goal. So rather than set my immediate sights on thrashing my husband by the end of our first table tennis match, my focus was more modestly on just hitting the ball back and having it land where I intended it to go. With such a clear goal in front of you, it's so much easier to reach it, one logical step at a time. (Your eyes know exactly what to look at and what to look for.)

Tip #2: If you're not good at it yet, expect high variability in your performance.

With little skill or knowledge about table tennis, I could only expect to have little control over where I put the ball, and with little control I could only expect to have little predictability in my results - the distance between where I intended the ball to land and where the ball actually landed fluctuated randomly and wildly. Understanding (and measuring) your v

orescent lights, I couldn't help reflecting on how similar the experience was to any kind of performance improvement in business. In fact, here are the six tips that learning table tennis (or trying anything new) can teach us about improving the performance of anything:

Tip #1: Be very clear what result you want.

When you start out with something new, aiming to be the best at it straight away is not what I call realistic goal. So rather than set my immediate sights on thrashing my husband by the end of our first table tennis match, my focus was more modestly on just hitting the ball back and having it land where I intended it to go. With such a clear goal in front of you, it's so much easier to reach it, one logical step at a time. (Your eyes know exactly what to look at and what to look for.)

Tip #2: If you're not good at it yet, expect high variability in your performance.

With little skill or knowledge about table tennis, I could only expect to have little control over where I put the ball, and with little control I could only expect to have little predictability in my results - the distance between where I intended the ball to land and where the ball actually landed fluctuated randomly and wildly. Understanding (and measuring) your

When you start out with something new, aiming to be the best at it straight away is not what I call realistic goal. So rather than set my immediate sights on thrashing my husband by the end of our first table tennis match, my focus was more modestly on just hitting the ball back and having it land where I intended it to go. With such a clear goal in front of you, it's so much easier to reach it, one logical step at a time. (Your eyes know exactly what to look at and what to look for.)

Tip #2: If you're not good at it yet, expect high variability in your performance.

With little skill or knowledge about table tennis, I could only expect to have little control over where I put the ball, and with little control I could only expect to have little predictability in my results - the distance between where I intended the ball to land and where the ball actually landed fluctuated randomly and wildly. Understanding (and measuring) your

ed it to go. With such a clear goal in front of you, it's so much easier to reach it, one logical step at a time. (Your eyes know exactly what to look at and what to look for.)

Tip #2: If you're not good at it yet, expect high variability in your performance.

With little skill or knowledge about table tennis, I could only expect to have little control over where I put the ball, and with little control I could only expect to have little predictability in my results - the distance between where I intended the ball to land and where the ball actually landed fluctuated randomly and wildly. Understanding (and measuring) your

s, I could only expect to have little control over where I put the ball, and with little control I could only expect to have little predictability in my results - the distance between where I intended the ball to land and where the ball actually landed fluctuated randomly and wildly. Understanding (and measuring) your variability is your baseline - understand this natural variability before you attempt to improve anything.

Tip #3: To really improve, change only one thing at a time.

As simple as table tennis is, there were many things that I could have changed to try for a better result. How I held the paddle, how I positioned my feet, how I moved my wrist, how hard I hit the ball, how accurately I read the spin that my clever husband put on the ball (in his wicked attempts to make my returns even more unpredictable). I found I improved best (very satisfying) when I thought about just one thing to do better, like holding the paddle consistently and at the right angle. Improvement happens so much faster when you bed down one improvement at a time. Trying to figure out the complex interactions among several changes at once is confusing, exhausting and takes many times longer to get results.

Tip #4: Performance will probably grow worse straight after you start improving something.

The moment I became more conscious of how I was holding the table tennis paddle, things got worse. The ball seemed to grow a mind of its own for the next 10 to 15 hits. Yes it did more often land where I intended it to, but it would also unpredictably ping off at the most obscur