I have just finished up reading three business books - two of which have some interesting connections for triathletes and cyclists. I have posted a review of the three books and some other links on my blog - link below The books are:
Good To Great - By Jim Collins
Raising The Bar - By Gary Erickson
*The Long Tail *- by Chris Anderson
Raising The Bar is a must read. “It is all about the road less traveled”
Fred.
Slightly OT - Am I the only one who gets a little… for lack of a better word… uncomfortable when someone tries to tie triathlon or cycling or running to the working world?
Janus does this - they do this bit tying financial management to training for a triathlon. There is some other financial company now using a pelaton running down a breakaway in a TV ad - maybe that is also Janus?
It’s just kinda creepy - need some more insight to put a finger on exactly what it is that bothers me about it.
Slightly OT - Am I the only one who gets a little… for lack of a better word… uncomfortable when someone tries to tie triathlon or cycling or running to the working world?
Janus does this - they do this bit tying financial management to training for a triathlon. There is some other financial company now using a pelaton running down a breakaway in a TV ad - maybe that is also Janus?
It’s just kinda creepy - need some more insight to put a finger on exactly what it is that bothers me about it.
I see lot’s of connections and associations.
Business success is rarely about over-night success. Yes it happens, but the more common success in business is working diligently, and consistently, with a good balance and perspective for years and years towards a goal. Sound familiar? It’s what any good triathlon or endurance coach should be telling you!
In Raising The Bar, Clif Bar founder and owner Gary Erickson goes even further, using a great bike riding metaphor of the Red road or the White road. On maps, Red Roads are the interstates and the white roads are the winding back roads. What road would you rather be on? What road would be the more interesting ride? It’s going to be a long ride to that business success, so you might as well take the more interesting and in many cases the more challenging route!
In* Good to Great*, Collins references endurance athletes ( Collin’s wife is early triathlon great Joanne Earnst) as having the right mind-set for business success due to their attention to detail and focus over the long term.
Just my view. Others may differ.
I have enjoyed reading “Raising the Bar” and have actually read it twice and when our company went more green, I had a few of the people on our green committee read parts of Raising the Bar as Gary was green long before green was so fashionable.
The GM at the company that I work for has read Good to Great and has requested all of the managers (which I believe only one has actually read it) to read the book. We have also moved towards getting the people on the bus if they are great people and then moving them around a bit to see what the best fit is. On the grand scheme of things, it works very well but when the company sees the management and owners moving people around a bit more than normal, they tend to get a bit uncomfortable. Even if you call a meeting once a month and explain what you are doing, people get nervous when they see you trying to fit someone into the company. I still have to read this book but will try to over the Christmas break.
possibly your working world differs from those of many others?
generally speaking, the business and athletic connections between
planning + effort = results are wide ranging and then some.
The commercial you are thinking of is for T. Rowe Price.
generally speaking, the business and athletic connections between
planning + effort = results are wide ranging and then some.
Jim,
No kidding. If you have ever worked in a entrepreneurial business on the sales side, the parallels with what it’s like to train for an endurance athletic event are uncanny.
Well, it is very different because triathlon is pretty much a few physiology equations, whereas work has far more variables and far more uncertainty.
So while they are different, they are also pretty much the same at a fundamental level - BUT SO IS EVERYTHING ELSE. Football, golf, poker, billiards, Halo, Starcraft, piloting, sailing, seducing women, painting, animal husbandry, surviving a prison sentence, watch making, cooking, and playing piano in a whorehouse.
It all comes down to determination, patience, and planning. I have a BBA from a decent school and so many lessons focused on trying to put a creative and different spin on that very simple metaphysical truth.
The thing is, triathlon/running/etc are in a lot of ways escapist activities that take me into a very different world with very, very different people and I resent Greg Kinnear’s character from Little Miss Sunshine trying to smear the two together in a phony erudite attempt to sell a book or seminar.
I’ve read Good to Great and The Long Tail, but Raising The Bar is on my list. Looking forward to that one.
Here’s another that I found compelling:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1591396190/bookstorenow57-20
Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim
Also, check out Tim Sanders stuff:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=tim+sanders&x=0&y=0
OK. i can understand how you feel on this one. and i think i have talked with a few folks who may have sort of felt the same way.
what i have found however over nearly 2 decades of multisport in just about every possible level of involvement is many and strong similarities as noted. and i’m fine with your vision too.
business and athletics, individually and collectively, do indeed appear to bring together very, very, different people with across the board viewpoints.
success to you in both.
It all comes down to determination, patience, and planning. I have a BBA from a decent school and so many lessons focused on trying to put a creative and different spin on that very simple metaphysical truth.
I agree with you. Many people, courses and seminars tend to window-dress it all and make business success sound so easy. At some point you do have to roll, up the sleeves and get down to work, in a consistent, persistent and dedicated matter( there’s that endurance training mentality, again!).
I agree with you that running, riding or whatever can be a great escape and it should be. Unfortunately for us in the business, the lines can get blurred. It’s not uncommon for me in my business to go for a bike ride with a customer! 