The Olympic "edge"

When you are running a blog entitled "Exceeding Expectations" you really have to include an article on the Beijing Olympics and especially the performance of Team GB.

We define Excellence as exceeding both requirements and expectations, requirements being tangible and expectations being intangible. The team exceeded requirements in terms of both medal count and final position in the medal table. In doing so they exceeded the expectations of their funders and sponsors and of the country as a whole. Certainly we did not expect to become a sporting superpower but that's exactly what fourth in the Olympic medal table makes us and boy do we all feel good about that!

We know that Competitive Strength is strongly linked to Excellence. High levels of Competitive Strength in any context enables people to exceed requirements and expectations. In the case of Olympic athletes this is not just about the talent, dedication, hard work and ambition of the athletes themselves but about the back up teams performing to the same level.

Here is Bradley Wiggins a double gold winner and member of the all conquering GB cycling team on this subject. "We have an unbelievable team behind us, management and technical. I know with confidence that when I step onto the track my bike will be in absolutely perfect working order. I can't remember the last time a mechanical problem was a factor in any GB races. When I start a race it is big boost mentally to have certain knowledge that nobody lining up against me starts with an edge. In fact it is always us who have the edge".

With this level of Competitive Strength our cyclists were nigh on unstoppable. They are best cyclists in the world with the best back up team. How many of us running businesses or public sector organisations can honestly say that our front line people can line up to do their jobs every day "knowing they have the edge"? What could they achieve if they did know this?

Our last few articles have focused on the different thinking that is needed to achieve Excellence through Competitive Strength. So what about Usain Bolt then? This man is not built for sprinting says the conventional thinking. He is too tall, his stride is too long and slow and really he is much better suited to 400 or 800m. Well Bolt and his coaches have rewritten some of the rules of sprinting by finding a way to adapt his stride pattern in such a way that the supposed weaknesses are turned into competitive advantage. With this Bolt made history and now other coaches will have to rethink what it takes to sprint 100 and 200m. It certainly is not going to be "run a bit faster the way you have always run", because that isn't enough to beat Usain Bolt!

The last two articles have focused on British Airways and how their conventional thinking dictates their strategy and response to challenges. In the last article we contrasted this with the different thinking displayed by Virgin Atlantic with an example of a stunningly high standard of customer service. Well today Virgin announced a leap in profits from £6m to £34.8M for the year. Profits for the first quarter of the current year are £23.5m and business class passengers (the most profitable) are up 22% with overall numbers up 7.6%. So whose employees know that they " have the edge" and does it make a difference? Answers in the comments please.

So congratulations to Team GB and here's to London 2012. To find out more about Competitive Strength and different thinking go to the brand new Changeworld website.