Bryan Parkes, lecturer in construction management at Reading University, on what business can learn from sporting success at the Olympics
Team GB’s outstanding performance at London 2012 – followed by the equally stunning performance of our Paralympics team – has thrilled the country and, temporarily at least, lifted the gloom surrounding our economy.
In business we are of course accustomed to competition, often fierce in our quest to secure a profitable and sustainable future. However, the spectacular rise in sports success has inevitably reopened the comparison between elite sports and business. What can a manager learn from the successful athlete?
The pivotal role played by the construction industry in completing the venues as an exemplar project is a fantastic achievement and has promoted learning as part of the ODA legacy. But thinking about the Games themselves, what were the ingredients of Team GB’s superior performance on the track, pool, water and equestrian arenas?
The British Olympic Association attributes the success to a selective focus on only 30 sports instead of a previous 110. Funding was dedicated to elite sports, with the strongest competitors, coaching, active performance reviews and often ruthless action against non-achievers.
In addition to this focus on strengths, a study of the approach and delivery of sporting excellence has yielded valuable lessons:
Team vision and values
The concept of Team GB collective ownership – that is, sharing of expectations and standards, encouraging diversity and honesty – has much to offer business.
The Governor of the Bank of England, Sir Mervyn King, commenting in the press, said that success was the result of hard work and that banking could learn from the ethos of fair play and trust, not always being driven by short-term financial gains. It is significant the GB competitors were not guaranteed “money for medals”.
Strategy and structure
Features here include a unique brand, a collective sense of purpose, agreement of goals and outcomes, a clear method of reaching each goal and an organisational structure capable of delivering elite performance. Central to this was the attention paid to both training and supporting each competitor to develop stamina, discipline and the attitude of a top performer.
Dave Brailsford, UK cycling boss, puts it down to “podium thinking” of aligning your goals, tactics necessary to achieve them, then monitoring them thoroughly. He also believes in delegating to the right people, giving them ownership, allowing them space to perform, but if they don’t, remove them! – a hard regime but who is to argue with the mastermind behind success in the Velodrome and GB’s first win in the Tour de France, two years ahead of target!
Business can learn lessons from the power of brand, common objectives, local ownership, cutting-edge technical expertise, meticulous attention to detail and sometime ruthless approach to non-performance, as construction faces up to four years more hardship.
There is much business can learn from the regime followed by Olympic athletes
Performance and attention to detail
Several of the UK team are by any standards exceptional individuals, Hoy, Ennis, Ainsley, Wiggins, to name a few. However, as in business talent is spotted, nurtured and developed within a supportive environment to become the ultimate performer.
The cycling track team buzz phrase is “the aggregation of marginal gains” meaning that small incremental gains over, say, 10 key areas result in competitive advantage in the races. A dynamic form of best practice yielding maybe tiny improvements to the bikes or design of the pillows cyclists sleep on! Also prominent is the models of human excellence that develop the riders, helmets modelled in wind tunnels, and black box data recorders.
Turning to sailing the team spent over a year in selecting a hull polish to enhance performance by one or two seconds. In an environment where a second makes a difference, it certainly focuses the mind.
Developing people
A significant ingredient of success is funding, but throwing money at a situation – as has happened in the past in football, athletics and lawn tennis – is not the whole answer. Money cannot guarantee attitude or beyond a certain level provide motivation. Champions think differently, do the key things right, deal with challenges and recover from setbacks. These principles apply equally to business leaders, sports teams, world champions, Michelin star chefs, world adventurers, top musicians.
Events such as the Olympic Games are, of course, extreme motivators in themselves as is the suggestion of home advantage, but training, discipline, preparation, not to mention almost total dedication to their craft is often only achieved after many attempts over the years.
Also coaching and support specialists is perhaps not given the recognition it deserves in business but in sport is seen as an essential part of the mix in being an elite champion.
Construction as an industry may be in the middle of a lost decade, recession bound and fighting to secure work and profits, but let us reflect on London 2012 as a construction, logistics and delivery success. There are lessons there for us as constructors and managers learning from the best and perhaps offering business one or more pointers from world class sports people.
We can perform to win or just take part – like elite sports people focus on thinking like pro, preparing like a pro and then performing like a professional.
