Think Like A Point Guard
A way to lessen cognitive load and improve team performance.
The theory of cognitive load was developed by educational psychologist John Sweller in the 1980s. In a nutshell, cognitive load is the effort expended in working memory, and heavy cognitive load can lead to lessened performance in nearly all activities people engage in.
There are three types of cognitive load:
Intrinsic cognitive load — the inherent complexity or challenge of a task or activity.
Extraneous cognitive load — the cognitive load caused by poor instructional design, such as cluttered interfaces or confusing instructions.
Germane cognitive load — the effort required to process, store, and organize information in working memory, which is necessary for learning and problem-solving.
These three types of cognitive load have come to be seen as mutually reinforcing: they are interdependent. One critical insight of this branch of psychology is that creating ‘schemas’ — or mental models — simplify performance by reducing germane cognitive load. Said differently, when you can rely on a schema, every novel situation doesn’t require as many mental resources.
I encountered a great case in point that illustrates this theory in action. Rustin Dodd wrote1 about NFL quarterback Sam Darnold, whose Seattle Seahawks are in the playoffs this season. The big takeaway is that before his recent successes, he was a struggling back-up to 49ers QB Brock Purdy, shared a mental model that completely changed his thinking about the role of a quarterback:
One secret to playing quarterback in the NFL [Purdy said] was to think like a point guard, to put the ball in the hands of your playmakers and set up others to have success.
“Like, my job is just to play point and get the ball in their hands and let them go do great things with the rock,” Darnold told reporters in March, relaying the message. “When I changed my thought process as a quarterback to kind of just getting the ball in my guys’ hands, that’s really where it unlocked for me.”
It might sound like Purdy was arguing for a change in style. But rather he was outlining a shift in mindset, a mental trick to simplify the position, an idea that can be expanded beyond the sports realm — the power of the point-guard mentality.
The argument: When people stop thinking of themselves as the hero in their personal narrative — and instead focus on how they can set up others — their own performance can benefit.
[…]
Think like a point guard.
It’s an easy metaphor. The point guard requires vision, selflessness and tactical awareness. They are, by positional requirement, facilitators and distributors, often asked to see the whole floor and initiate the action. But they don’t have to do it all; they just have to put others in a place to succeed.
Dodd goes on to frame this in terms of cognitive load, but the biggest direct takeaway may be that the point guard mentality can be applied to nearly any situation in the workplace, whether you’re an official quarterback (manager) or any player (managee)2 on the team.
Facilitating others' success clarifies the principles of teamwork for all players and makes groups more effective. They just have to all think like a point guard.
