Olympic Inspiration from Olympic Innovation

I have so loved the Olympics and have laughed, shouted and cried at the feats of my sporting countrymen - along with the vast majority of the UK population.  What a Games it has been, what an emotional roller coaster - surely a Games that will inspire a generation.

So, not wanting to feel left out and over the hill I thought I'd take the opportunity to share how the Games has been a source of inspiration for me.  Now I know we all love the heart-warming triumph over adversity stories but I have been particularly struck and inspired by the stories that relate to innovation.

In particular I'm loving the stories about the application of science in support of athletic performance.  I'm intrigued by how the very fabric of athletics track has been designed to help the athletes go as fast as possible.  I'm loving the fact that the velodrome is being kept at a constant 28 degrees so that the track and the air are in the optimum condition to produce fast times and I am left speechless at the hours spent in designing the optimum pole with which to vault.

But perhaps the most impressive innovation story is that of the thousands and thousands of incremental changes that the individual athletes have been able to make to their styles and equipment through the application of insights gleaned from the analysis of data.  More than any other Games, this Games has seen the application of data analysis to improve the performance of the elite athletes.  Data is the new drugs.  Data is the new competitive edge.   Watch out for the inevitable new legislation arriving (a la Formula1) to try and level the playing field).

Of course, I can't help but ask myself about the implications of this data oriented focus for driving business performance.  Now data analysis to improve business performance is not a new concept but I can't help but think we businesses have a lot of work to do before we can claim to be anywhere near the levels of our sports scientists in relation to capability.   If truth be told (and speaking with a number of my more aged colleagues seems to confirm it) the quality and development of data analytics inside the large traditional businesses has stood still over the last 30 years.

So come on Team GB business – let’s get our act together on the global business stage and use the innovative brains we have in abundance in this sceptered isle to truly reinvent the way we conduct our businesses to deliver high performance.  Let’s take a leaf from our inspirational athlete’s notebooks and follow a few simple rules that will enable us to rediscover the power of data analytics in the business community and create an unstoppable GB economic resurgence:

1)      Remember that you have to be in for the long game – data analysis requires investment over the long term – think about building for a generation, not a quarter

2)      Develop a spirit and culture of experimentation and learning – hypothesise, test, analyse, learn and go again

3)      Remember that people are an integral part of business performance – they are central to your business performance and need to be provided with the data that helps them perform rather than kept in the dark and treated as Human Resources.

These are all easy to say but really quite challenging to achieve within the confines of business as usual in our mature organizations.  For my part I’m building these lessons into the very fabric our new Innovation Production Service – wish me luck – I’m aiming for the stars.

That’s the end of this Olympic inspired blog.  Go Team GB.