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I N N O V AT I O N S • V O L . V I I , N O. 4 • 2 0 1 5
I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300
games ... I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is
why I succeed.
–
American basketball legend Michael Jordan
It’s unlikely that anyone would call Hall of Famer Michael Jordan,
arguably basketball’s greatest player, a failure. Yet here he is, not only
admitting he’s failed repeatedly, but actually attributing his success to
those missteps.
The ability to power through failure, to “own” and learn from
mistakes, is a common characteristic of successful athletes, elite and
amateur alike. And I believe it’s just as important in the pipeline industry
as it is on the playing field.
It’s been my experience that the highest-achieving business teams are
those who, like Jordan, refuse to be victims. They don’t look for excuses
or someone else to blame for their underperformance. Instead, they seek
to fix things, ensuring success next time.
Underperformance plus excuses does not equal performance. The
customer doesn’t care what your excuse is. He just wants the problem fixed.
But “owning it” isn’t the only way athletes up their games. We can
learn from their other strategies, too.
• Set expectations.
Like the runner who increases her pace every week, the
high-performance team is continually stretching itself. If they have a setback to
overcome, they don’t aim for the original target: That would simply be playing
catch-up. Instead, they set an even more challenging goal.
• Focus.
There’s an economic principle that says, “80 percent of your outcomes
come from 20 percent of your inputs.” To reach high expectations, successful
teams focus primarily on the top three things that could keep them from
reaching their goals.
• Execute and repeat.
You’ve probably heard athletes describe being “in the
zone,” where performance is exceptional, consistent, and nearly automatic. For
business teams, this feeling comes from establishing cadence – hitting your
targets for the day, the week, and the month.
• Believe.
High-performance teams believe in and celebrate their successes. Then
they tweak their expectations to become even better.
Not everyone can have the physical prowess of a Hall of Fame
athlete. But by applying some of the same principles that led to their
prominence, we, as an industry, can more easily achieve our shared
performance and safety goals.
LEON WOLMARANS
VICE PRESIDENT,
GLOBAL MANUFACTURING
& SUPPLY CHAIN,
T.D. WILLIAMSON
E X E C U T I V E O U T L O O K
Up Your Game