Comments on: Lessons From Phelps and Bolt

By: heather_duey

heather_duey — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:55:55 +0000

I can't speak from the sales perspective, but from an athletic perspective, it's not worth doing (at any level) if you're not going to do it the best you possibly can, all the way till the finish. Surely sales/startups/whatever can be measured the same way – the thrill is in doing the best you can, right? And if you're doing well (winning), shouldn't that just inspire you to better yourself each time (and maybe coast on an occasional training day)?

By: Brad Stewart

Brad Stewart — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:55:55 +0000

Your gold medal doesn't get any bigger depending on your margin of victory.

But seriously, I think a lot of it came from being young and just letting his emotions get the better of him. Easy to understand considering he laid down one of the most dominating performances in all of sports history as well as redefining what a sprinter has to/can look like.

By: jpmorgan

jpmorgan — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:55:55 +0000

I was also surprised at Bolt not running hard. As some of the athletic pundits are saying, I think it was grandstanding and an act of poor sportsmanship. I think he is an incredible athlete, but he has poor manners. On the flip side, he was very respecting of his competitors and the Olympics as a whole during his televised interview (surprisingly).

As a former sales rep for a $20B+ company, I think the act of just making your number and not "killing it" is more a creature of poor company culture, practices, and expectations at the executive level of the company.

For instance, at my previous employer, 20% was added to whatever number you brought in the previous year as the quota for the following year. Not making the quota caused extreme ridicule and a very high risk of job termination. So, reps simply do what the company incentivizes, beat their quota by a few dollars and sit out until the next year. Why? Because if they beat the previous year it becomes harder by an order of magnitude to beat your quota the next.

Alternatively, reps kill their number thereby "burning" out their territory for the following year and all the while knowing they will just leave the company at the end of the year.

Either way the company loses.

How might a company take care of this problem? Pay their people so well they don't want to leave. Understand the changing nature of their business. Stock options. A pay structure that encourages people to work hard throughout the year. (QOL) Quality of life benefits…whether it be company car or extravagant vacations, etc

By: Josh P.

Josh P. — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:55:55 +0000

If memory serves, the old Soviet pole vaulter Sergei Bubka used to break the pole vault record in tiny increments . . . I think he was given a bonus for every time he broke a world record — so its all about the incentives that are in place. Put metrics and a system and people will try to game it to their advantage.

By: Eric Willis

Eric Willis — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:55:55 +0000

How often do swimmers pull a hamstring or get injured in a race? You can't really compare Phelps to Bolt or any short distance sprinter…completely different dynamic altogether. The likelihood of injury is MUCH higher in track and field. Bolt has only begun to run the 100m recently. His specialty is the 200m. Why risk injury to expand the WR when you can conserve energy for the next race? It was a good strategic move and he'll expand in his record later. He's only 21 and not even in his prime yet. There is also bonus money at stake…there are other races that pay up to 1 million dollar if you break the record in their event. You guys are taking a myopic view here.

By: tobisa

tobisa — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:55:55 +0000

ha. i think Bolt could afford to enjoy his dominance in the 100. he gets 20m of "big i am" glory after years and years and years of slog to get there. Remember, to get that good, he's probably had to train as hard as Phelps- and be the salesman who smashes the target – 7 days a week since he was in his early teens. His final 20m was the "bender" that your salesman might go on after smashing the target again, for the 20th time in a row. And, after a night of celebration, he came back to do it all again – in the 200. Champ! Now, to be clear, i waaaay prefer the Phelps focus on giving it 100% every time. But you could argue that Bolt's margin over his competitors is way bigger than Phelps' and so he has more scope to play to the crowd. (Bolt's .5s daylight over a 10s 100m race is the equivalent of Phelps destroying the field by 12s in a 400m IM swim – he actually won by "only" 2.5 seconds).

By: jpmorgan

jpmorgan — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:55:55 +0000

Like all things, situation would dictate.

What we are really talking about is motivation. The executives must figure out the most effective way to motivate sales people.

Hint: Most sales people are in sales to make money. Normally, it is not a philanthropic effort.

By: DMC

DMC — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:55:55 +0000

So how do you encourage a salesperson to push all the time? Quarterly quotas seem to be counter productive. Is it as simple as a straight commission?

By: JB

JB — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:55:55 +0000

Having been involved in several startups that relied upon a direct sales force, I can say that it's like running with a flagpole, which gets longer every quarter, and therefore increasingly difficult to balance and lean forward at exactly the correct angle to match the speed. This is especially painful once you are public. Remember, the next quarter comes…well, next quarter, where performance is once again required.

I have in the past, supported the banking of some revenue since I wanted to manage the length of the pole and the pace of the race; because in business, there is no "finish line." Maybe Bolt sees it similarly; a series of milestones versus finish lines.

By: Phil Sugar

Phil Sugar — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:55:55 +0000

Good lesson but simple reason….makes a bonus for every record he breaks. To blow it away is STUPID. So I give him credit…..given his situation he's not stupid.

It is so hard, just so hard to use money to motivate people.

I'm not smart enough to have figured this out.

Just hire sales people on a base.

You can only recruit non sales people or those that suck.

Once you get the non sales people up to speed they're gone.