The Forrest and the Trees: Simplifying Complex Systems

I had the privilege of interviewing ‘Bad Data’ author Peter Schryvers last year on the High Performance Hockey Podcast.  In my opinion, this book is a must read for performance coaches.  In the age of metrics and measure, the book is full of practical gems and common-sense logic.  Perhaps my favorite chapter in the book is called “The Forrest and the Trees:  Simplifying Complex Systems. 

Speed, power, strength etc. are all relatively easy measures. However, they are also very jagged.  Jaggedness is the idea that we cannot apply one-dimensional thinking to understand something that is complex and jagged.  Take for example, team speed.  Who’s faster?  Personally, I’d choose player #1.  Speed is a jagged concept. 

The follow up question is, how does it affect the scoreboard?  You can be the fastest, strongest, most powerful player to the wrong spot.  Linear speed alone is the equivalent to measuring a tree.  Timing, space, hockey IQ, and anticipation is the forest. 

Video courtesy of Troy Smith (Website: https://www.hockeyiq.ca -IG: @hockeyiqcan)

"Speed of hand, speed of foot, speed of mind. The most important of these is speed of mind. Teach it." -Anatoly Tarasov

The forest is hard to measure.  For some, it may be scoreboard outcome, for others +/-, but the forest considers the landscape and playing environment.  It’s complex.  It’s chaotic. 

“Those who believe that what cannot be measured, doesn’t matter, also believe that what can be measured, does! “

No one is saying, don’t train speed, strength or power, but there is a problem with only counting part of the whole.  It doesn’t paint the entire picture.  It ignores the forest, and in certain cases, some trees aren’t worth the effort to upkeep.