According to a story in BusinessWeek, in the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Shaun White’s incredible snowboarding performance stands out. Shaun had already won the Gold Medal before he did his final jump. Even his coach told him: “Shaun, we have achieved what we came here for. You can take it easy now.”
What did White do instead? He took a risk. Instead of being satisfied with the gold medal, he tried a breathtaking move, the Double McTwist 1260.
Why? Because he wanted a perfect score. White is not about benchmarking against his competitors; he is interested in creating next practices.
There are parallels with corporations. Companies that have outperformed rivals–won the gold medal in the business world, so to speak–more often than not become complacent, even arrogant. Over time, they lose relevance. Business history is littered with “once-great performers”.
Photo by shuttershades.