On February 12th 2010 after a 106-day relay, the 21st Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver were opened by lighting the Olympic Flame. During two weeks the world’s best athletes compete for the ultimate goal; an Olympic gold medal.
I just love the Olympics. The sheer dedication, atmosphere, euphoria, disappointment and all other human emotions are a true inspiration for me. When I think about parallels between the Olympic Games and IWMS, there are quite a few of them. I think IWMS vendors can learn a lot from Olympic Athletes.
Focus
Most Olympians have focused on achieving this special goal all their lives. From the day they became high school champion and discovered their talent, most athletes picture themselves being an Olympic champion. This mindset is the only successful mindset. You need to visualize your success before you can achieve it.
Olympic champions need to focus. Days, months, and even years Olympic champions focus on one race. Four years of training for a 3-minute race. That’s focus!
IWMS vendors need to focus their attention as well. Focus on core-business! Focus on achieving results for customers! Everything that distracts from the goal needs to be eliminated. Immediately.
Dedication
Only those who are absolutely dedicated will in the end prevail. None of the Olympic champions have become Olympic champion accidentally. Becoming an Olympic champion isn’t something you can achieve by being “in the right place, at the right time”.
Olympic athletes endure intensive training programs over a long period of time to achieve the ultimate goal. Although talent and luck definitively play an important role, dedication, commitment, and hard work are far more important. Honestly, there are no shortcuts for achieving Olympic success!
In the IWMS industry this is exactly the same. IWMS vendors need to realize that only those dedicated to the industry will gain a substantial market share. You can’t be successful in the IWMS industry without dedication. This dedication should result in solutions that will help customers in solving their existing business problems.
Competition
Competition is great! Olympic athletes need competition to constantly push them forward. By competing in races regularly, athletes can assess their own strengths and weaknesses, and measure those against their competition. Every race either won or lost, provides a unique opportunity to improve performance.
IWMS vendors need competition as well to increase their performance. Competition ensures that IWMS vendors need can’t be lazy. What IWMS vendors can learn from Olympic athletes is that every customer should be treated as the Olympic Games.
From the initial sale to project delivery, all processes are an Olympic race. The IWMS vendor needs to strive to be the best in all races. This implicates the best sales force, the best implementation team, the best implementation methodology, the best IWMS software, the highest customer satisfaction, etc.
Coaching
A talented athlete is just a talented athlete without a good coach. Through knowledge, experience, or both, coaches can transform talented athletes to Olympic medalists. A good coach is an absolute must for any athlete.
Many people forget that coaching is a method of directing, instructing and training a person or group of people, with the aim to achieve some goal or develop specific skills. (Source: Wikipedia). A good coach therefore always focuses on a goal!
Although some IWMS vendors might disagree, coaches can actually help the IWMS vendor mature and professionalize. As the IWMS industry is becoming increasingly complex, domain knowledge is a must. IWMS vendors therefore need to connect with domain experts that can help them forward. The right coach can transform the talented athlete to an Olympic medalist!
Training
To win an Olympic medal, coaches need to optimize the physical and mental condition of the athlete. This can only be done through (intensive) training programs. Most Olympic athletes train between two and four years for a race of a couple of minutes. To me this is extremely fascinating.
What IWMS vendors can learn is that Olympic athletes train every aspect that could positively impact their performance. From start to finish everything needs to be perfect. With the goal in clearly imprinted in the mind of the athlete, the athlete trains all aspects that will lead to “the perfect race” and Olympic glory.
IWMS, Olympic Games, Vendor
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