Business Lessons Learned from the Olympic Games: Innovation

[blockquote text=’Here’s to the Olympic competitors that have triumphed through great adversity, who have faced defeat and who have gotten up each day to start again with renewed vigor. We will be watching. We will be cheering you on. We will be captivated by your stories, we will feel your losses and we will celebrate your wins. We share the belief that it is never too late to dream. Let the games begin!’ quote_author=’Vonda Dyer | Minerva Consulting’ text_color=” width=” background_color=” border_color=”]

8. Innovation is, most often, counterintuitive

Athletes know that innovation is nuance. It believes that no idea is a bad idea until the best idea emerges. It cuts through linear thinking, strategy and hard work, and blends “outside of the box” thinking with known practices. It’s the ray of “aha” in the path to a finish line. Invite the “aha” into your business practices. You might just find gold in unlikely places.

At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Dick Fosbury ushered in the future of high jumping. Fosbury won the gold medal using the “Fosbury Flop”, a back-first technique he invented that virtually every high jumper still uses today.