The Sport Psych Show #340 Declan O'Connell - Adaptive Expertise
Mar 30, 2026
Declan O'Connell, coach and performance consultant with 20+ years and a PhD focus on adaptability. He breaks down adaptive versus routine expertise. He outlines four pillars: self-awareness, flexing to connect, contextual sensitivity, and accelerated learning. Conversations cover mentorship, reading the room, curiosity, reflective practice, and practical steps to build adaptability in high-pressure settings.
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Adaptive Expertise Is Knowing When To Use Knowledge
- Adaptive expertise is knowing when and how to deploy your domain knowledge rather than just having answers.
- Declan contrasts routine expertise (fixed plans) with adaptive expertise, which abandons plans when context demands change.
Know Thyself Because Strengths Can Become Liabilities
- Self-awareness is the foundation of adaptability because strengths can become liabilities in new contexts.
- Coaches in the study reported moments where their key strengths 'got them hired' but later 'got them fired' when overplayed.
Use Mentors And Honest Debriefs To Reveal Blind Spots
- Hold a mirror via mentors and honest post-failure reviews to identify blind spots and when strengths are overplayed.
- Use failure as a catalyst: participants described post-tournament reviews and mentors as essential to reveal problematic patterns.