Getting things done <> making real progress
You know that feeling when everything’s getting done — but nothing’s getting better?
It’s what Eduardo Briceño calls the Performance Zone — a space where we focus entirely on doing things well, hitting goals, and minimizing mistakes.
It sounds like EXACTLY what you want – until you realize it’s stopping your team from being the strategic powerhouse that you know they could be.
When our only focus is execution — getting the work done, doing the launches, shipping the comms — we stop creating the conditions for learning.
❌ We don’t make space for feedback loops.
❌ We don’t pause to question assumptions.
❌ And we definitely don’t have time to admit what we don’t know.
As Briceño writes, “when performance is the only metric that matters, even asking a question can feel risky.” Especially in organizations where efficiency is prized over clarity.
This hits events teams hard. We are expected to be the experts and are constantly strapped for time. We’ve fallen into the role of order-taker instead of valued partner and consultant.
So we:
- Skip the alignment conversations
- Stick to what we already know
- Avoid asking questions — because there’s no time to do anything different
But that’s the rub – and the paradox. High performance without intentional learning makes things worse, not better. It’s not sustainable. And it doesn’t scale.
If we want to build event orgs that adapt, evolve, and stop repeating the same mistakes, we have to bake learning into how we work. We need to spend time in the Learning Zone. That includes:
- Pre-mortems and post-mortems that go beyond “what didn’t work”
- Processes and space for reflection, not just reporting
- Encouraging stretch mistakes — and knowing how to spot them
⚠️ Before you start thinking, “I don’t have time for one more thing, Jen” let me explain. ⚠️
The ning Zone isn’t a place – it’s a mindset.
And it starts by shifting how we think about our systems, our teams, and what success actually looks like.
Over time, I’ve realized the Event Systems Diagnostic often highlights exactly what the Performance Paradox describes — how chronic performance hides in plain sight, and how teams can finally move past it.
Because tech is only as good as the system around it.
And performance without learning is just burnout waiting to happen.
