{"id":505,"date":"2016-08-23T11:00:40","date_gmt":"2016-08-23T15:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/?p=505"},"modified":"2017-03-03T13:12:30","modified_gmt":"2017-03-03T18:12:30","slug":"steet-smarts-feedback-and-the-4-minute-mile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/2016\/08\/23\/steet-smarts-feedback-and-the-4-minute-mile\/","title":{"rendered":"Steet Smarts: Feedback and the 4-Minute Mile"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"JoeSteet\"Let me tell you a story about the 4-minute barrier for the world record one-mile run. For nearly a decade, the record stood untouched at 4:01.4. <\/span><\/p>\n

People thought running a mile in under four minutes was literally impossible. Then, in 1954, Roger Bannister ran a mile in 3:59.4. The next month, John Landy broke the new record. And over the course of the next two years, <\/span>fourteen more runners<\/span><\/i> joined the ranks of sub-4-minute milers. <\/span><\/p>\n

Roger Bannister broke a psychological barrier that existed in most athlete’s minds. Once runners believed an impossible goal was actually possible, they worked on making it attainable. And then, well, they attained it.<\/span><\/p>\n

To date, the record for most Judge Apps reviews in a year is 105, a record set by Riki Hayashi in 2011. And I’ve written 82 in the first six months of 2016, including 18 from a single event.<\/span><\/p>\n

This prolific pace has not been constant throughout my judging career. In the entirety of 2015, I wrote only 15 non-advancement reviews. So what changed? How and why did I start writing so much? <\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier this year Riki wrote <\/span>an article about flash feedback<\/span><\/a> encouraging judges to submit more reviews by freeing themselves from long-winded standards for content. I read the article and realized that I should submit more reviews.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, it was that simple.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

I don’t have some special talent or any great secret. When I’m at an event, I write stuff down. If something exceeded my expecttions, it’s probably a strength. If something fell short, it’s probably an area for improvement. If something was unexpected, I analyze differences in approach. Then I talk to the judge about what I noticed.<\/span><\/p>\n

If there’s something to discuss, the conversation evolves into a review. Sometimes it doesn’t, and that’s okay too. Feedback should provide clarification for a moment in a judge\u2019s experience, and the written review preserves that clarification for future reference. If clarification is unnecessary, redundant, or unhelpful, it doesn\u2019t meet my basic criteria for reviews. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My primary goal is not to review everything in sight to break Riki’s record. I didn’t even know there was a record until six months into this adventure. My enjoyment of feedback and discussions with other judges motivates me to keep reviewing. <\/span><\/p>\n

But I also realize that not all judges are motivated by the same things. Some judges struggle with writing reviews, a feeling I can relate to because I used to struggle with reviews as well. My point is not that everyone has to write 100+ reviews a year to contribute good feedback to the judge program. For most judges, life circumstances make that number impossible. The purpose of a recognizing a milestone like Riki\u2019s 2011 record is the motivation and inspiration inherent in the breaking of a previously unbroken barrier. <\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, sometimes it might seem de-motivating to labor with a task and then see someone else make it look easy. But if that\u2019s how you feel, think of a personal increase in review writing as a psychological barrier like the 4-minute mile. Rather than attempting to break the world record, most runners are focusing on their own personal bests. Maybe you don\u2019t write over 100 reviews a year; maybe you go from 10\u00a0reviews to 15, and that\u2019s fantastic. You can focus on setting a personal record, or you can set your sights on some of the program\u2019s milestones.<\/span><\/p>\n

After all, records are made to be broken.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let me tell you a story about the 4-minute barrier for the world record one-mile run. For nearly a decade, the record stood untouched at 4:01.4. People thought running a mile in under four minutes was literally impossible. Then, in 1954, Roger Bannister ran a mile in 3:59.4. The next month, John Landy broke the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":275,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4,26],"tags":[23],"language":[78],"class_list":["post-505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guest-blog","category-motivation","tag-edited-by-angela-aliff","language-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/275"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=505"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":519,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505\/revisions\/519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=505"},{"taxonomy":"language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/language?post=505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}