So the football season has kicked off again. That’s ‘soccer’ for any American readers. Andy ‘Dr. Happiness’ Cope has been a Derby County supporter for ever, and I thought something related to this would get my first ‘Brilliant’ blog article accepted (and it seems I was right!).
I’ve noticed over the years how things can go really well for ages, unless ruined by one slip, a mistake, or a misplaced word.
At home, I wash my wife’s car, mow the grass and wash the pots. And then I say something about her mother.
Hmmm. It seems to me you’ve to be great all the time; whistle-to-whistle; to win.
You might remember the Euro games this summer when England played Russia (yes, the game with all the post-match fighting). Everything was going fine until the 92nd minute (yes, in the second minute of time added on). Russia scored to equalise and ruin our opening performance. Derby are sometimes worse…
When Derby played Brighton at the end of last season, James Wilson scored for the away team in the 95th minute to tie the game. And I wondered if this was just luck. Turns out it’s not. James Wilson was signed at age seven by Manchester United (who always seem to get the winner in the last minute – remember the Champions League Final in 1999 anyone?), and given a professional contract by them on his 17th birthday. He scored on his England under-19 debut and again on his under-21 debut. He was on a six-month loan to Brighton when he did the damage at Derby. See any pattern here? I do. James knows that every second counts.
At work, every second counts too. You have to get it right the whole time; the whole presentation has to be good, not just 89.99 minutes of it. Every gesture, every word you say is on the record.
I work in health and safety. I investigate accidents when things go wrong. And this is what injured people say afterwards when I interview them: “I looked away / I was distracted / it all happened in just one second…”.
Art of Brilliance H&S has its first client next month. This power sector company already enjoys a good health and safety performance. But it wants to be better – to have brilliant performance to protect its workers and the public it serves. It will set HUGGs (Huge Unbelievable Gigantic Goals), and its team will 100% commit every minute, every second to achieving these. Just like James Wilson.
Stephen Asbury