How Badminton Replaced Hopscotch at the Olympics

Why it's assumed we care about badminton, fencing, canoeing, archery. table tennis and a host of other activities which aren't visible for four years, I do not know. Or, maybe we do care. What was the conversation that replaced the game of jacks with archery? What got hopscotch thrown out? Is there a power point presentation which shows there's more money in badminton than in hopscotch?

It doesn't matter what you do in your business but it has to makes sense to your people. Otherwise you spend all your time managing bad behaviour.

Bad behaviour in badminton. The Beijing badminton scandal where Chinese players threw the games in a bid to get more favorable draws later in the tournament. They sprayed shuttles into the net just to get through the matches. Thousands of spectators watched in disbelief as a bunch of "Generation-Me" kids, - not grasping for a minute what it should mean to be in the Olympics, - enshrined themselves in history by not caring about the game, but only about the winning.

Canada is pushing the same values-vacant "own the podium" slogan. Excellence is trampled by win at any cost. If you use 'own the podium" as the standard, then the Beijing team did the right thing. Once we strip values out of anything it takes you into some strange directions with some results you never bargained for.

A couple of thoughts come to mind.

1. If it's only about a gold medal, cheating becomes ok. If you want to bring out excellence in your people, you focus on excellence, not money.
2. Excellence can motivate for a lifetime. Money will motivate for a day.
3. Your new quarterly goal can be "badminton," just make sure they know why you bumped "hopscotch." You can make any decision you want, but it has to make sense to your team or nobody will care.
4. Be consistent. Trying to get people excited about badminton once every four years won't light a fire of participation. Only daily, unwavering, long-term commitment will inspire those around us.

Morale building, teamwork, employee engagement is what great managers are good at. Great managers build great companies by not focusing on the gold, the money. They focus on individual greatness and excellence. It is how they inspire exceptional performance in ordinary people.

I am not against badminton, or your new quarterly goals, but could you mention it more than once every four years?

See you for breakfast,
Wolfgang