I was absolutely blown away by the winter Olympics men’s
slopestyle event this past weekend when American Sage Kotsenberg secured a gold
medal. As a middle-aged snowboarder, I
was certainly very impressed with the daring moves, flips, and speed displayed
by all of the competitors. But what
really impressed me was the attitude of the victor.
Sage didn’t expect to win a gold medal. He was just there to compete in an event he
truly loves and as a result, he unleashed his raw talent. Sage didn’t care about expectations, the
media, international politics, endorsements, or the competition. He simply let his gifts speak for themselves. This made me think about how we in business have
a tendency to drift away from our essence and begin to focus more on results rather
than on those basic emotional elements that can help get us there. How does a business nurture the unadulterated
spirit displayed in the Olympics to drive success in the future?
The slopestyle competitors are an anomaly to what one
typically thinks of as the definition of an Olympic athlete. They wear baggy clothing with hoods flapping
in the wake of their descent, and sport long hair and several days of beard
growth. These guys look more like rock
stars than Olympians. Their mannerisms,
vocabulary, and general attitude are anything but the sterling demeanor we've
come to expect of Olympic athletes.
When you contrast the style of the boarders to other sports
in the winter Olympics, the differences are amazing. Alpine skiing, bobsledding, and speed skating
are consumed with aerodynamics where the suits, helmets, and equipment are
designed for maximum speed. Figure
skating is obsessed with beauty and performance and has a strict set of rules
guiding the performers. Even curling has
become fanatical with physical fitness, and participants spend more time in the
gym working out than on the ice.
The pursuit of excellence as is typified by the conventional
Olympic sports event is the same attitude that dominates American
industry. We become passionate about
selecting the right team and equipping them with the finest in support. Leading businesses dedicate millions to
training and development of talent. Then
we install bonus systems to reward positive behavior and dismiss people who are
not following the correct path. Earnings
per share, trending stock price, and profitability are goals that are tattooed
onto our psyche. Nothing else really
matters…or does it?
I would submit that in this day and age, it is the outliers
like the Sage Kotsenbergs who will determine the truly successful businesses of
the future. Slogging towards boring
financial goals will yield lackluster results.
What really matters is that spirit that got you excited about the
business in the beginning. How do you
capture the soul of your business? We
need to look at our businesses with a renewed clarity so this latent energy can
be released. We need to soar like Sage, doing what we love.
Take Re-View for example.
Our company recently made a couple changes that are radical departures
from our defined path. First we exited a
line of business that had been part of the company for 21 years because it no
longer fit out current direction. This
division was engaged in promoting daylighting products such as skylights and
tubular daylight devices. Over the past
two decades our company has exploded into the historic window business. Our daylighting efforts really didn't fit
with our passion for historic windows; it seemed to drag our energy down and
interfere with our efforts to be truly successful in the preservation field. What was once a primary business line was now
blurring our focus. It had to go
We also began to pursue the crazy idea of manufacturing
specialty wood items with waste from our manufacturing processes. We have a great deal of exotic wood waste
from the manufacturing of our historic windows.
The amount of this unusable material has grown beyond our ability to
give it away. So our brilliant
woodworkers came up with designs for quilt racks, chopping boards, stools, and
pizza peels. I have no idea whether this
venture will have a positive economic result, but it sure does fit nicely with
our passion to create beauty with wood.
So what are the crazy ideas that strike at the essence of
your company? The time is right to jump
in and pursue a wild thought. In
addition to energizing your team, a return to your core principles might
generate very positive returns. It is
time to follow the wise Sage and get stoked about our businesses. Come on dudes, let’s get gnarly and create
some sick results!
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