10th August 2024
In most fields, you need to do things differently, to complete and win, whether in Sports, Business or life especially when the environment changes.
Breakthroughs — whether personal, or for an entire domain — often start with individual experimentation, and only later do the principles of why it obviously worked become clear.
The high jump is a track and field event in which a participant runs toward a raised bar and attempts to leap over it without touching the bar.
Throughout history, high jumpers had used a few traditional techniques—like the scissors or the straddle—to clear the bar by leaping forwards or sideways over it.
But that would all change when an Oregon State University high jumper named Dick Fosbury came onto the scene.
His progress had stagnated using the traditional jumping techniques, so he started experimenting with new ways of clearing the bar. In particular, he challenged the conventional methods of a forward or sideways approach, instead developing an angled approach that culminated in him arching his back as he went over the bar backward.
Fosbury was widely ridiculed for the technique—some remarked that it looked like an “airborne seizure” or a “fish flopping in a boat” when they first watched it.
But at the 1968 Olympics, Dick Fosbury used the technique to win gold and set a new Olympic record.
Within a few years, the Fosbury Flop (as it became known) was the standard in the sport, and it remains so today, over 55 years later.
Dick Fosbury, and his flop, stick in the mind as a great example of someone who was willing to try something — specifically something that looked silly — when the old way wasn’t working for him.
The lesson here is simple, True innovation is often met with ridicule. Enduring that non-belief is the price of admission for anyone who wants to alter the status quo.
Innovation is about everyone agreeing with you….later.
Fosbury’s story offers a lesson that extend far beyond the world of high jumping.
His success came during a period when the environment of the sport had changed, but everyone was still following old patterns of behavior. Even though the switch to foam landing pits allowed athletes to experiment with a wider range of jumping techniques, everyone continued to do the same old thing until Fosbury came along.
This is exactly why you see startups completely disrupt established industries.
Take the transportation company Uber, for example. Taxis were the standard way to get around town for decades. At some point, mobile phones and constant internet access became the norm in our daily lives, but everyone continued to flag down taxis and pay for them the old-fashioned way. The environment had changed, but the behavior stayed the same.
Then one day Uber came along and said, “Use your phone to request a car, we’ll pick you up wherever you are at, and you can easily pay through your phone.” Today, Uber is the biggest taxi company in the world.
When the environment around a task changes, a new and better way to do things is usually possible.
We all face changing environments at work, at home, and in our relationships.
The key to success is to be aware of when the landing material changes, so that we can experiment with new jumping styles and discover what works best.
I am a big believer in the power of personal science. Simply put, you have to be willing to experiment with new ideas if you’re serious about discovering what works best for you.
Dick Fosbury found success because his sport had switched the landing material and he was willing to experiment with a new jumping style.
Innovate, try a different approach, think out of the box & stay blessed forever.