Lowenstein's research on the Gap Theory of curiosity has direct bearing on your business.
As discussed in "Made To Stick: Why Some Ideas Die and Others Thrive," Lowenstein wanted to know the reason people would stay to the end of a bad movie; why they'd watch a football game to the bitter end, even if they weren't fans of either team; why they'd read a mystery novel even after they'd figured out the killer.
What he discovered was that people built themselves a 'knowledge gap' and had to fill it in. To not fill it in was painful. They'd create a framework using known criteria, and then do whatever necessary to fill in the missing piece. For instance, in the case of a murder mystery, they'd paint themselves a picture using the information a clues given: the history of each character, the fingerprints found, the bloody shoe... But if there were one thing missing (the killer's identity,) they'd go to great ends to find out. To complete the picture. To fill the Gap.
This is a totally natural instinct, and it applies directly to your CrossFit Affiliate. Where common gym 'programs' - bodybuilding set and rep paradigms - and plans like P90X fall apart is this: there's a ceiling. After 3 months, you've seen it all. The gaps are filled. Yes, you can increase weight or repetitions, but there's no longer anything to be curious about. The knowledge part of the equation is filled.
It should be obvious that CrossFit creates as many knowledge gaps as it fills. Every time you improve one aspect, you'll spot a weakness in another. For instance, your "Michael" time is terrific; your "Grace" is abysmal. So you take a month and do some extra work on your Clean and Jerk. Meanwhile, your CrossFit Total is lagging behind the best in your Box.....
Your job as Affiliate owner is to define the gaps. To paraphrase a famous line by George Bush: "There are known knowns. Those are the things we know. There are known unknowns. Those are the things we know that we don't know. Then there are the unknown unknowns: the things we don't know that we don't know yet." If you followed that, then you'll understand that new CrossFitters aren't savvy enough to yet know what they don't know. Tell them.
"Your kipping could improve a little, and you'd be faster at Angie...."
"Sometime, let's get together and practice your bench press technique...."
"Your stride could be a bit more efficient. Want to try POSE? It will hurt less than what you're doing now....."
This also underscores the necessity of teaching new exercises with every group before you start the WOD: to show people how much they don't know. As long as you keep opening gaps, they'll keep striving to fill them.
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