Article contributed by Mark Sutherland.
Doing the basics brilliantly has become a positive obsession. The more I focus on the basics the greater the results. It is the whole basis of my coaching now.
In my experience the basics work, and when they are done brilliantly they get brilliant results. Too often we take the basics for granted and don’t maximise the power they have. How often do you hear sports coaches of top teams or business managers say “we have to go back to the basics”! I want to know why they ever left the basics.
There is a plethora of new technologies and innovations that are supposed to make our lives and businesses easier. We need to be discerning about what is on offer. It is easy to get excited about the latest and greatest. You could upgrade your cell phone every month with all the new innovations being made. You could have a million apps on your tablet or mobile, but how many are necessary and functional. You could engage hundreds of social media experts to market you to the world – anything is possible, right? Doing the basics brilliantly is not about what you can add – it is more about what you should avoid or take away.
I can honestly say that my successful sports coaching career was down to one reason – I focussed on the basics and aimed to do them brilliantly. I have said this before in different posts that ‘excellence is doing the basics better than before all day, every day in every way’. I did not have the technology to help me for most of my sports coaching career. I had a journal where I recorded time trials and I had a stop watch that could record 100 lap times. I also had the use of video camera and that was it. These are the basics. They worked – we won a lot of medals and my athletes were incredibly successful.
I am not against technology; in fact I find it quite exciting. I have a cell phone, a great computer with some great software and I also have an iPad which has a place in my coaching business. I also use a few apps to help manage clients and athletes alike. I have been very selective in what I choose – whatever it is has to be able to help me to do the basics brilliantly.
I have built my business career on the back of my sports career using the BASICS every step of the way. I have made a great living doing what I love to do which is coaching people to get ahead with their careers, businesses and life.
Here are some examples of doing the basics brilliantly from sport and business;
Paul MacDonald was pissed off; he had just taken his kayak through scrutinising at the Olympic regatta course and discovered it weighed 100grams more than the legal weight. It’s ok to be overweight so you would wonder why he was pissed. He wanted his boat to weigh exactly 12kg. He did not want to go into an Olympic race with a heavy boat.
He got a ruler and a drill and carefully measured distances from the centre of his seat to put his drill marks, where he would drill tiny holes so as to reduce the weight by exactly 100grams. After each hole was drilled he re-weighed the kayak until it weighed 12kg exactly. Paul won a gold, silver and bronze in 1988 in Seoul. He was doing the basics brilliantly.
I read Gordon Ramsey’s book Humble Pie a few years ago and in it he talks about how tables should be arranged so there is a straight line walk to the bathroom. People dressed in their finest clothes do not need to go on a tour of the restaurant to find the bathroom. He was doing the basics brilliantly.
My client Michael wanted to pitch an opportunity to a property investor. He prepared a great letter and sent it to me to discuss. The investor is a general manager as is Michael. My suggestion was phone him GM to GM – he did so and secured the meeting. This is doing the basics brilliantly.
The British Olympic cycling team did a sensational job at mastering the basics. Their head coach initiated a program of ‘1% improvement’. Every day each member of the team had to find a way of improving an aspect of their preparation and training by 1%. They focussed on the basics and the seven gold medals they won is an endorsement that the basics were done brilliantly.
Call to Action:
What can you do in your business to enhance it? Start with and stay with the basics. How can you do them brilliantly? Look at everything from answering the phone to staff management and customer service. I guarantee you there will be plenty you can do that will enhance your business and income. If you need help then contact me. This is what I do.
