In today’s economic climate, it’s no surprise that many organisations, across both the private sector and public service, are in ‘head down’ mode. Tightening budgets, restructuring, hiring freezes have become the norm. There is an urgency to deliver more with less. It’s real, and it’s not going away any time soon.
The signs of pressure are unmissable. Widespread restructures and “never before seen” levels of uncertainty permeate across the entire public service. Teams are being asked to deliver on the same, or increased expectations with fewer people and fewer resources. In the private sector, we similarly see organisations trimming costs in every corner, and while some of that is overdue or necessary, the risk is inadvertently trimming away the very conditions that support sustained performance: trust, learning, purpose, and energy.
A relentless focus on productivity is the duty of all leadership teams, but in the current scramble to deliver, organisations risk narrowing their definition of work to just the work itself - the outputs, the deliverables and the deadlines. In doing so, they unintentionally lose sight of two critical aspects of performance that Tim Gallwey’s work triangle so powerfully illuminates: learning and experience.
Gallwey’s simple but profound model frames performance as a product of three interrelated components:
Gallwey's model reminds us that performance isn't just what gets delivered; it's what people learn in the process and how they experience the work itself. These three are not ‘nice-to-haves’, they’re interdependent. Tilt too far in one direction and the triangle collapses.
When pressure mounts, the focus almost always tilts toward performance, often at the expense of learning and experience. When learning and experience are squeezed out, energy drains, innovation stalls, and people quietly disengage. You still see the outputs; until you don’t. And by then, you’ve lost time, talent, and trust.
With a limited focus on growth and sustained energy, organisations can become stagnant and the lack agility needed to successfully navigate complexity and deliver sustained performance. As well as budgets for development, the headspace and environment for reflection disappears. Pushing harder rather than thinking differently is rewarded. The psychological safety required for genuine learning is diminished, as people focus on job security and survival rather than experimentation or growth. Their ability to successfully navigate complexity is stymied.
At worst, when economic conditions turn, the organisation is not in a position to take advantage of new opportunities and talent walks. Those who weathered the lack of focus on growth and culture (experience), no longer face the external restrictions that kept them in the organisation.
As leaders, we need to ask:
Reclaiming a fuller definition of work doesn’t mean ignoring the current reality; it means responding to it differently. We need to create environments where people can still grow, connect to purpose and feel a sense of momentum, even in tight times.
In tight times, the temptation is to narrow the definition of work – to just get through the list, hit the numbers, survive the cycle. Great leaders resist that pull. They protect the conditions that enable performance, growth, and energy, not just for now, but for what’s next.
Now, more than ever, leaders have a choice: shrink the definition of work in response to pressure, or hold the line on what great work really involves. It’s not indulgent to prioritise learning and energy, it’s strategic. It’s how great organisations build resilience in tough times, and how they come out stronger.
Hold the line: not on tasks and KPIs alone, but on what makes great work sustainable - growth, connection, momentum.
Need more information? Contact the Winsborough Team:
winsborough.co.nz | 0800 222 061 | support@winsborough.co.nz
Image credit: Eric McLean (Unsplash)