Performing Under Pressure

What if we were wrong to consider that pressure makes us more effective? For the author, this is an obvious truth that he demonstrates throughout the first part of the book. He defines pressure as the fear of failing when we have the feeling—often unjustified—that the stakes are very high and that the outcome depends almost exclusively on us. Pressure affects our cognitive faculties, our sense of ethics, our coordination skills, and our perception of the environment. In short, we lose an important part of our potential just when we need it the most.

But this isn’t an inevitability. We observe people who are better able than others to keep their cool under pressure. Indeed, there are some good strategies to do this. The author describes no fewer than 22 in the second part! Some of these strategies are well-known, but all benefit from being validated by performance tests. For instance, you’ll learn why squeezing a stress ball in the left hand helps right-handed people stay creative under pressure!

Finally, the last part is devoted to the development of a strategy, otherwise known as “COTE,” designed to protect us in difficult situations, in which cultivating Confidence, Optimism, Tenacity and Enthusiasm helps us preserve our creativity when pressure is high.

This book is characterized by a balanced combination of easily understandable explanations about how our brain works under pressure and recommendations. These recommendations are concrete and often unusual or counter-intuitive, but are systematically validated and highly applicable to professional environments. You will probably find some good ideas to implement.