For the casual observer, the IEOS 1:59 Challenge was just a race in which one man is trying to run a marathon faster than anybody alive ever has. That in itself is no mean feat and is the summary of the event.
However, INEOS 1:59 is a lot more complex than the time score this are some of the lessons which I picked from the race and found them useful.
Success can only make sense in retrospect
Kipchoge has trained hard and longed for this race; both physically and mentally. He has proven himself before and made everyone have a reasonable belief that only he can pull through the challenge. Even if he fails, his stature won’t lose any shine. The win is in the try. He dedicated 4 months of training for a sub 2 hr. event with a myriad of pessimism and scientific calculations and speculations which were against the odds of him winning the race.
Your Health is of utmost priority
Working with nutritionists, sports physicians, physiologists and trainers, Eliud Kipchoge monitored every ounce of calorie intake and expenditure in the run up to, during and after the race. He was following a tight and scientific regimen that prepared every inch of his body to give its best.
As an executive your health will play a major role in your productivity and attention span, enrolling in a GYM, having enough sleeping hours and engaging in healthy conversations will really play a huge role in your productivity and achieving the wildly important goals that you have in mind.
Healthy Work Environment and Support Groups
Kipchoge was running behind a lead car throughout the race. The lead car was to reduce the wind drag on the runners. Behind the lead car, there was a pack of elite pacesetters arranged in a formation that gave Kipchoge the least wind resistance. These pacesetters, 41 in number, took turns to ensure Kipchoge maintains a certain average top speed. The lead car projected a target pace on the ground in real-time throughout the race.
In your management team the targets should be clearly indicated and broken down into achievable milestones with specific timelines, previous financial year results should be the Eliud in you while current projected results should be your lead car ,lessons learned from the previous factors which inhibited realization of your wildly important goals should be the pacesetters, making the same mistakes twice will be detractors.
Identify and Dedicate Required Resources to the Management
INEOS is a British chemical company owned by Sir Ratcliffe while Nike is an American sport apparel company. Provided the adequate resources required for the challenge to be a success.
Invest in Research and Innovation.
INEOS and NIKE Both companies exist because of science. They research, innovate and produce goods that have solved human needs across the world. Together, they employ about 100,000 people around the world and collect four times our national budget in revenues.
For them, this Challenge went beyond marketing (of course it’s a huge marketing campaign). It kept hundreds of scientific theories and products to test. It reached new frontiers and tapping on the vast resources that every human being has; imagination, resilience, and hope.
Planning and Organisation
Eliud, Ratcliffe, and Parker did not just wake up to INEOS 1:59 on Saturday 12th to make headlines. It has been deliberate and heavy lifting for everyone in the team. Prior and proper planning is important for any goals to be realized they should be specific, well tabled and measurable with specific timelines with key performance indicators attached to each and every goal.
Collaboration
When we come together, great things happen. This is one such time. Things are only impossible because we have not imagined them or we have but have not the knowledge, collaborations and plans to make them possible.