Creating a better experience

When I was in college, I ran a little bit for the University of Cincinnati men’s track team. I was a freshman when we had a dual-meet at Indiana. It was a big deal. With a few events left to go, I remember the coach suddenly pointing to me and saying, “Eric, you’re anchoring the 4×400 today.” I was shocked to say the least. This prestigious position is usually reserved for the team’s strongest runner, which I wasn’t.  As the moment was drawing near, I was getting more and more nervous because I was scared to let the team down. As I was stretching and trying to calm myself, coach came over and gave me a few simple instructions. He said, “when you get the baton, you’ll probably have the lead, so don’t blow it.” Well, coach was right. We had the lead and I held it turning into the home stretch. But then I remember hearing my competitor’s breathing. It became heavier and heavier as he got closer and closer. It became so loud I couldn’t concentrate. But then it became peaceful and quiet. He passed me with about 20 meters to go and won the race. I ate his dust.

It was okay. Coach was hopeful but didn’t expect me to outrun Indiana’s anchor. Instead, he was trying to teach me a valuable lesson. While I was still hunched over, gasping for air and a little ashamed to lift my head, coach said, “so how did it feel to run scared?” I said something stupid like, “it was okay” and he replied, “you need to learn how to run out in front and you need to get comfortable with it.” I never forgot that and it taught me a valuable lesson that is part of the foundation of my passionate management philosophy today.

At some point in life, we will be given the responsibility to look after, what appears to be, a well-oiled machine. It might be a department or small team or a product that just looks and runs great. But I say…there are no such machines!   The moment you stop running scared, you lose your edge and convene the first step in the process of failure. Your complacency will neglect to notice how fragile success truly is and your situation will slowly unravel.

You must be looking behind you, because something is always gaining on you. To be successful, you must learn to run scared, stay sharp, stay focused, stay calm and stay in control. When you are too comfortable and just cruising along, you get soft and your keen sense of observation gets dull.  You must accept this and get comfortable with it because it will drive you to constantly improve and invent.

Ah yes, “improve and invent”…they are the glue that hold together successful teams and products. Don’t forget that. You may have the lead now, but if you’re not running scared, then your competition will surely leave you in the dust.