There are no downhills

July 22 2009

Cyclist
Seth Godin wrote a great piece today entitled ‘Winning on the Uphills‘. He argues that the time to do things is when the going gets tough. That way you get the maximum impact from your action. I couldn’t agree more.

However, I think the bit that he left out, and the bit that truly separates amazing businesses (and people) from just good ones is that for an amazing business there are no downhills. It is all uphill.

Just because you are beating your targets, you are outstripping your competition on all your key metrics, or you have just been promoted doesn’t mean you sit back and relax, enjoy the downhill run for a while, and wait till you have to tackle the next big climb.

Some examples of great climbers that spring to mind:

  • As Apple reached the crest of the MP3 player hill, dominating the market (actually it’s still climbing that one by releasing new models, just not as fast) they didn’t stop. They turned and began climbing the mobile phone hill. You can also bet they are already well into the preparation for the next climb.
  • 37signals took their hill climbing technique from enabling project management and applied it to storing contacts, live chat, and organising your business. They even tackled a book somewhere in there.
  • Closer to home those cheeky folk at 42Below were only just starting up the Everest sized mountain that is the international vodka market when they took on a couple more hills for good measure: bottled water and gin.

Climbing hurts, but climbing is when you make big gains, and really break through. Keep climbing, and learn to love the climb, there are no downhills.

Pic of the cyclist digging deep from JaymezB on flickr.

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4 COMMENTS
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Allen
July 22, 2009
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This was a great post. I had severe work stress blues today after 2 weeks of insanity. Even contemplated throwing in the towel… so this article cheered me up somewhat. Keep up the good work Dunc!

Michael Major
July 23, 2009
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It’s a great analogy. And it happens in the service industries as well. When the work is just flowing in, why bother trying to drum up new business, develop new products, or enhance existing ones. It is so easy to stop peddling and freewheel down the hills because of the enjoyment and exhilaration of not having to work as hard for new work (and anyway work life is too busy) and cruise for a bit. The problem/challenge with this way of thinking is the need to have enough momentum in the forward workload to be carried up to the next brow of the hill (rather like a big dipper)? Usually the answer is not! The result is there is a need to work twice as hard to get up to the brow of the next hill. The reality is business can never ease up. The ones who don’t are steadily moving ahead right at the moment!

Seth Godin
July 23, 2009
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this is a good practice, but of course Apple (just to pick an example) has dramatically slowed innovations–like a tablet, or a new laptop–because they don’t feel the same pressure…

duncan
July 24, 2009
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@Allen thanks! I actually thought that maybe this sounded a little bit depressing after I had written it, so I am glad that you found it inspirational.

@Micheal You are absolutely right. Definitely applies to service industries as much, if not more than physical products. As Seth said in his post, the best time to impress someone is when they are not happy.

@Seth thanks for stopping by and reading. You are right, I was probably a little lazy picking Apple as an example. I would still contend that they are pushing forward, but agree that their position in the market affords them a little ‘coasting room’ which translates into a slower flow of innovation.

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