As the world watches the Olympics this week, I was struck at how different sporting competition is from business competition. Those business leaders that make positive analogies are doomed for problems – and most likely failure.
The Olympic gymnast is a great athlete. Designed and practiced to be the best at his sport. He might have been a great baseball player, or swimmer, but he is, today, a finely tuned athlete capable of competing – and winning – at gymastics.
Likewise, the Olympic Greco Roman wrestler is a great athlete. He too is practiced to be the best at his sport. And, he too could have been a football player, or other competitor. But today, due to repetitive practice and a determined focus he is ready to compete in his one sport of wrestling.
Both of these are potential gold medal winners. But which is the more “fit”? That is impossible to say, for each is now finely tuned to a narrow field of competition. What would happen if the coach asked them to switch sports? It would be disastrous. They are capable of winning at one game, and have limited competitiveness in any other area.
What will become of these athletes when the game ends? Both will hope for endorsements and great fortune. Perhaps they will have one – at most two – more possible trips to the Olympics. And endorsements may last for a year or two. But they are almost sure to not compete in any other athletic endeavor. For, as good as they are, they are so highly specialized that their skills are not transferable to compete in another game. They will have to find entirely new careers in short order.
For business this is a recipe for disaster. Specialization leads to obsolescence. Any business that optimizes itself to compete so specifically will find itself upset by another competitor that makes a slight alteration in the “rules of the game.” The dynamism of markets, and competition, assures us that no highly specialized competitor can survive long. Glory may reign for a short time, but the specialized competitor will be upset in short order.
Today’s business success requires adaptability in the face of changing market conditions and competitors. New rules are created often, and the abilty to move across markets with wide skills is required for any business to remain powerful for more than a few years. Even great size, as with the wrestler, will not protect the competitor when the rules change slightly favoring speed or agility over size.
Business is not an Olympic sport. We should not confuse the testosterone laden thrill of a gold medal with the success of creating returns for shareholders. Instead, we should remember that Olympic winners are the 1 in 100,000 that made it to success. The odds were stacked far against them before they began. In business, the ability to change the competitive rules means that the odds can be stacked in your favor – as long as you remember to be adaptive in thinking and behavior in order to keep your competitor guessing and yourself in the lead.
