For three weeks in July every year, our
household becomes totally and utterly obsessed with the Tour de France. This is
a relatively new phenomenon, which has crept up on us over the last five years
– but still now, our total immersion with the event, takes even us by surprise.
The ‘phone goes unanswered, ironing builds to a veritable monster, the weeds
gang up on us and the dog has to remind us he wants to be fed and walked!
So as the 2013 edition draws to a
spectacular close and we are left feeling bereft, I wonder what, if anything, I
can draw from the experience.
I suppose the overriding observation, every
year, is the total and unswerving dedication to the cause. The absolute
commitment from every single rider, to every kilometre of the race, regardless
of pain, weather, or gradient is remarkable. Does this type of dedication exist
at all, outside of the sporting arena?
Is it possible to harness just a tiny bit
of this focus and desire and capture it for our own worlds? Or are the participants,
by definition, simply a special breed that cannot be ‘recreated’ in any other
environment? Could we look at the Sky Team approach to ‘process improvement’ which,
in the words of the great (Sir) Dave Brailsford, is all about marginal gain: if
you work, methodically, to remove variances over which you have control and
which have a negative impact, and aim to do 100 things one percent better – the
impact in any walk of life will at the very least be noticeable and at best,
incredible.
So far so good, now I wonder how my team
will feel about the lycra suits………
Next week Philip King’s guest
blogger will be Sue Kettle, Director of Membership & Support Services for
the ICM.
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