How to compete with Usain Bolt when you’re a bit slow
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Is it possible to keep pace with the Usain Bolts of this world if you’re a bit slow? Heck yeah!
Just ask the 2016 Japanese relay team. They won silver in the Olympics despite none of their four members ever running a 100 meters in under 10 seconds.
I once participated in a relay in a major athletics stadium. Our time was decent and it’s something I’ll never forget. The problem was no one was there to see it.
My college buddies and I got very drunk that night. Our one friend was a decent runner, so in the early hours of the morning we had the bright idea to break into the stadium to see how fast us amateurs could do a 4 x 100 meters.
It reminds me of the Japanese relay team who competed in the 2016 Olympics. None of their four members had ever run a 100 meter sprint in under 10 seconds. But they recorded an excellent time of 37.60 seconds and walked away with the silver medal.
They beat the Americans, Canadians, China and Britain and finished just 0.33 seconds behind the Jamaican super-team spearheaded by none other than Usain Bolt himself.
How did they do it? Their secret weapon was not individual speed but precision in the handovers. This gave them an advantage over teams that had faster athletes but inferior technique. Turns out that teamwork really does make the dream work.
I see this all the time in business. Teams that underperform despite the individual members being very capable. High performing teams usually collaborate constructively making them greater than the sum of their parts.
My college buddies and I got very drunk that night. Our one friend was a decent runner, so in the early hours of the morning we had the bright idea to break into the stadium to see how fast us amateurs could do a 4 x 100 meters.
It reminds me of the Japanese relay team who competed in the 2016 Olympics. None of their four members had ever run a 100 meter sprint in under 10 seconds. But they recorded an excellent time of 37.60 seconds and walked away with the silver medal.
They beat the Americans, Canadians, China and Britain and finished just 0.33 seconds behind the Jamaican super-team spearheaded by none other than Usain Bolt himself.
How did they do it? Their secret weapon was not individual speed but precision in the handovers. This gave them an advantage over teams that had faster athletes but inferior technique. Turns out that teamwork really does make the dream work.
I see this all the time in business. Teams that underperform despite the individual members being very capable. High performing teams usually collaborate constructively making them greater than the sum of their parts.