Learning from sport

We have witnessed some remarkable sporting achievements recently – Roger Federer winning Wimbledon for the 7th time, Spain winning the Euro 2012 Championships and Bradley Wiggins winning the Tour de France.

All of these achievements, and many more not mentioned, are remarkable because if somebody had said they would happen, not many people would of believed them.

Why, because they all go against the pattern of what has gone before and they seem impossible.

This reminds me of what we are tasked to do in business planning – we set business objectives based on what we need to achieve and what we believe is possible.

But, is there a role for setting business objectives that seem impossible ? Can we learn from sport and how teams plan for the impossible.

Let’s remember that before 2008, Spain had not won a major football tournament – they are now the European Champions, World Cup Holders and then if you look below the surface, they are the under 21 European champions, Under 19 European champions.

Before Bradley Wiggins won the 2012 Tour de France, there has never been a British winner of this race.

No doubt somebody started the dream for both Spain and a British winner of the Tour de France.

One key lesson to learn is that it’s not just about having a dream – it’s also about having a plan to achieve the dream.

British Cycling and Sky put together a team and then planned for success. Spanish Football set out a way to play football to conquer the world.

Both of these achievements seemed impossible but with a dream and well developed strategy and implementation plan, these dreams became reality.

What business dream do you have ?