The Paris Olympic Games are now a memory! And what a spectacle it was, with so many inspiring feats, world records, titles defended, medals won, and ceremonies successfully conducted.
Regardless of your favorite sport, there were great performances and then again, some not so great: the astounding “Redemption Games” for Simone Biles; Steve “Clark Kent” Nedoroscik on the pommel horse; Katie Ledecky’s all-time medal haul; Cole Hocker’s Gold in the 1,500 meters; China’s dominance in diving; and men’s and women’s USA basketball champs. In the not-so- good category: Noah Lyles coming down with Covid and not living up to his endless bluster, and the USA Men’s 4X100 relay team messing up the baton passes.
Peak performance is a crucible, a time to leverage your years of training and competition at world-class levels. And you do not get a second chance, so many things must go right.
For us mere mortals, there are parallels.
Preparation is critical for a peak (gold medal) performance, whether on the track, in the pool, or in business. You must be ready, with all your ducks in a row, and with contingency plans if things go awry. As the owner, leader or player coach for your business, inspect all the details while you still can before it is “go time”. Do you have a sufficient stock of ingredients and packaging materials? Have you built up enough inventory in warehouses to meet demand? Are the launch promotions and retailer ads queued up and ready to go, with secondary display space contracted?
Rehearsal is also key, as it is SO much better to work out any bugs in advance. Do limited volume production runs, but at full speed to validate throughput and product defect rates. Test sample product to make sure that it meets your specs for all the key quality criteria. Ahead of product launch, it’s smart to rehearse your sales pitch in a simulated pressure situation. Then you will be relaxed in front of your most important, largest customers, and be ready for questions with good answers prepared in advance. Do not “wing it” or be unduly overconfident. What can go wrong often does, at just the wrong moment. Have a backup laptop for the presentation, as well as a skilled backup presenter in case your original designee gets sick.
Avoid surprises and do test runs of the customer experience. For your retail customers, test all the handoffs to prevent any dropped batons. Try to replicate the conditions you will be facing when it matters most. For your consumers, validate that the go-to-market production product performs as well as the product that got those awesome market research test scores (that convinced you to launch big). Is the entire customer service team trained and ready for the spike in calls, once the new product is out there?
Unlike some athletes who can earn a place at the next Olympics, you may not get a second chance if you stumble during the high pressure of a high-profile launch. Recognize your reputation (personal and brand) is on the line. If you can crank out a peak performance with no hiccups, it can set you up for good things, such as volume that meets or exceeds your forecast or budget, costs that come in with expectations, consumer repeat purchase rates that are at planned levels, satisfied customers and proud employees. That is a great place to be. Dropping the baton on national TV? Not so much.
At Damen Jackson, we are big believers in being ready for peak performance. I mean REALLY ready. We have the benefit of over 25 years of working with almost 800 clients to help your brand shine by making the most of your chances to score points and win medals. Our fresh eyes are there to augment the experience of your leadership team, while multiplying the odds of delivering peak performance.
Let’s go to work!
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