In many sporting events halftime is a chance for a team to take a breath, rest and hydrate before they resume the rest of the game. It is also an opportunity to talk to teammates and coaches about the success and/or failures of the first half. It is a time for some of the coaches who are not on the field to relay information to the coaches on the field and players on the team based on what they see from above the action.
There are teams that have made halftime adjustments that helped them win the game. Others who did not and lost as a result.
Most sporting events, especially professional sports are played at amazing level of performance and speed. Many rookie athletes comment on the speed of the game and just how fast everything goes in the pros. It seems the faster the game, the more critical halftime can be.
I wonder if business would be better, I wonder if my company would be better, if we went faster? If we demanded not the same level of performance as a professional athlete, but better than just another mediocre business, producing ho-hum products and forced to advertise and market to the largest mass of people in order to get 2% of them to show interest.
Maybe if we did spend the necessary time on the mission and then built the systems so the work was clear and we knew what to do. After that we could challenge ourselves to speed it up and Ship It as Seth Godin always says. If we get better, we could earn our halftime, make the adjustments and get back out in the field to win!
Be Good,
- Chris