Monday, October 25, 2010

1° makes all the difference


Like most of you, my business colleagues, I’m used to running at 6000-7000 rpm.  In that mode with obstacles flying, it is a challenge to reflect and synthesize life.   But now, in between firms, I have more time to idle.  So, I thought I’d share my thoughts in a regular post that you can read in a couple of minutes at a stop light.  Today is my first – let me know if you like it. 

1° makes all the difference

My college varsity crew, the “Great Cal Crew of 1982”, raced in the Head of the Charles over the weekend.   We hadn’t rowed together for many years but managed to finish 13th out of 40 in our event. A close look at the results showed that we were only 4% out of a top 5 finish.  Not bad for our comeback row and 6 months of training.

The challenge is that the final increments of improvement, the final 4% in our case, are always the most difficult.   Doing significantly better next year will require twice as much training.

The San Francisco Giants are advancing to the World Series for the first time since 2002.  It’s been a thrilling, nerve-wracking playoff season for us Giants fans.  Seven of their ten playoff games have been decided by just one run, including Saturday night’s nail-biter to win the NLCS.  The Giants are led by strong pitching and have done a masterful job with mid-season trades including Cody Ross who was the MVP in the NLCS.  With all that, it so often comes down to the smallest margin of victory, one run.

Most prizes worth winning are hotly contested and decided by a small margin.  Victory must be earned with talent, expertise and an intense desire to prevail.

There was an aspect of the Chilean Miners’ rescue that caught my attention. Macarena Valdes was the topographer responsible for guiding the probes in search of the miners.  In an application where extreme precision is called for, she altered the calculations by 1° to compensate for drill vibration based on her expertise with similar equipment.  However, at 2,000 foot depths, it was possible that her adjustment would result in missing the target locations completely.  Through two weeks, there were no positive results and her team had to have been fighting hopelessness.  Imagine the pressure on Ms. Valdes, especially as one of very few women in a male-dominated profession!  But on the 17th day the 30th probe punched into a chamber and the miners tapped back.  Her 1° adjustment may have saved those 33 miners.

What extra effort or special talent or refined expertise are you going to invest today so that your team can win tomorrow?

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