On-demand skill

[Totem Polar]

When you say you must be able to repeatedly do something cold, what percentage successful are we talking about?

I need to shift over to something that I have enough expertise in to comment with any authority. In music recording and performance, there is a saying I picked up from a respected Nashville songwriter/artist: "Let 95 percent of the performance be 95 percent as good as it can be; you’ll go blind chasing the last 2 5 percent categories." I’ve always kept that in mind while picking the shit out of my own performances.

A good baseline "on demand" standard is getting 95 percent of what you’re trying to get, 95 percent of the time—under pressure and the microscope of observation.

In other words, setting a 100 percent threshold as any sort of upper limit to "on demand" is going to plummet your performance standard into the basement. Honest to God, even just playing a 2-octave C major scale perfectly, every. single. time. is beyond the abilities of most pro musicians. Things happen; a door slams down the hall, your leg cramps, you brain fart and cause a minor bobble. It’s objectively no easier to do basic things at 100 percent all the time than to play a Bach fugue at 100 percent all the time, so may as well shoot for 95/95 on something extremely challenging and worthwhile.

Or put differently, I’d rather shoot 95 on the FAM qual cold than 100 on some low-fruit CCW rubber stamp job.

I’m more or less on the same page as clusterfrack.

[GJM]

I need to shift over to something that I have enough expertise in to comment with any authority. In music recording and performance, there is a saying I picked up from a respected Nashville songwriter/artist: "Let 95 percent of the performance be 95 percent as good as it can be; you’ll go blind chasing the last 2 5 percent categories." I’ve always kept that in mind while picking the shit out of my own performances.

On demand is getting 95 percent of what you’re trying to get, 95 percent of the time—under pressure and the microscope of observation.

In other words, setting a 100 percent threshold as any sort of upper limit to "on demand" is going to plummet your performance standard into the basement. Honest to God, even just playing a 2-octave C major scale perfectly, every. single. time. is beyond the abilities of most pro musicians. Things happen; a door slams down the hall, your leg cramps, you brain fart and cause a minor bobble. It’s objectively no easier to do basic things at 100 percent all the time than to play a Bach fugue at 100 percent all the time, so may as well shoot for 95/95 on something extremely challenging snd worthwhile.

Or put differently, I’d rather shoot 95 on the FAM qual cold than 100 on some low-fruit CCW rubber stamp job.

I’m more or less on the same page as clusterfrack.

NFL kickers should be at the top of food chain in terms of on demand performance, but there is a lot more variability in their 2018 performance than I would have expected.

[JHC]

IMO, "on demand" means someone or some circumstance has demanded the performance. That could be Gabe on the timer or a match or a shot at game or battle.

I can rep something all day year round but it's on demand when someone says show me. Right here, right now.

[P.E. Kelley]

Some of us keep our prescriptions in an upper kitchen cabinet. Occasionally the removal of one bottle unintentionally slides another bottle off the shelf. In my mind, an example of an on-demand skill, in it's most useful iteration, is the catching of the second bottle in the act of dropping. It happens without conscious thought, with only the most minimal effort, and has no effect on one's composure.

Basically, if the stimulus is not both (a) unexpected and (b) kinetic there is time to mentally prepare. Stress cannot help but be reduced, sometimes to a non-event. That's not the same as performing well before the need reaches full consciousness, but it's also not terribly rare. Some of the very excellent dove shooters regularly do that ("Yes, Winston, I suspect there are birds somewhere in this field, but neither of us knows where or when they will present themselves.")

An on-demand skill is one that satisfactorily concludes before the "demand" is obvious.

Damn! I like that! Who are you mister? PM me if you would.

[Clusterfrack]

NFL kickers should be at the top of food chain in terms of on demand performance, but there is a lot more variability in their 2018 performance than I would have expected.

I guess it's harder than it looks? This is a good example of where on demand performance with subconscious mastery doesn't mean assured success.

[GJM]

Since Gabe is my friend, I don’t think he will mind if I do a deep dive on his numbers. This is what he said in the aha thread:

3. This one I can definitely say I can do successfully most of the time. In something like 16/18 classes, I've hit the overall Turbo threshold of at least 4/8 runs. Most of them are 5 or 6 out of 8. I've hit 7/8 a couple times. I haven't hit 8/8 yet.

First, Gabe is a very skilled shooter. Second, this is his test, and I bet he can shoot it as well or better than anyone else. Third, it is a fixed time test, and since Gabe knows through experience he can make the par times, it is less tense than for someone who is not making the times. His numbers are for demoing in front of a class, which is certainly more stressful than practice by himself, so that pushes the other way.

16/18 successful runs in front of a class is about an 89 percent sucess rate. However, that is defining success at 4/8 test runs, which is a different standard than 8/8. If we take 6 successful runs as his average, I think the math is as follows. 18 tests times 8 runs is 144 individual tests. Using 6/8 as his average, we end up with 108 turbo runs out of 144 possible, for a percentage of 75 percent. So depending upon whether you define success as half successful runs to pass or each run being turbo, we have a success rate of 75-89 percent. This make sense?

[Clusterfrack]

Complete sense. We can ask: what level of performance can be delivered on demand with a given likelihood?

[Mr_White]

GJM - If you had asked me to turn my paragraph into a simple percentage, 75% is absolutely what I'd have said. 6/8 Turbo seems to be my most common demo score in class.

[GJM]

GJM - If you had asked me to turn my paragraph into a simple percentage, 75% is absolutely what I'd have said. 6/8 Turbo seems to be my most common demo score in class.

I usually tease you for “so many words,” and this may be payback!

[LSP552]

I guess it's harder than it looks? This is a good example of where on demand performance with subconscious mastery doesn't mean assured success.

No matter how good you are, there is a small factor you just can’t control. You can do everything right and still not win the day. Not talking about match performance.

I think it’s hard to put a number on it, but I’d be more than happy delivering 95 % consistently, rain or shine, regardless of environmental conditions.