Cycling Thru Business - Lessons in Business and Leadership Inspired by a Love of Cycling
- Bob Merrill
- May 5, 2023
- 5 min read
Professionally, I get energy leading and designing transformation and developing the strengthening the skills of my colleagues and team. It is also how I learn and improve my strengths. On the personal side, my best friends that I have made in my adult life have mainly been found by being engaged in endurance activities. I know many that do golf trips, wine trips, etc. I like cycling events and trips, and I am usually chasing them so that is how I try to stay sharp on the bike as well. This is the start of a series that will connect observations, experience, and lessons in business with experiences and similarities to cycling. I also want to recognize and share my appreciation to Kristin Hatcher and the Writing in Community program she created. It was a great platform to learn from others, get feedback and insights from a broad audience with different viewpoints, and, most of all, practice. I hope you enjoy the ride.
Learning how to ride a bike is an important milestone for many. It is probably one of the first physical accomplishments we can remember. For me, it opened the aperture to a world of new freedoms, new friends, and new places I could reach. Today, much of that still exists. I ride to keeping learning and experiencing where the bike can take me, what I will see, and who I will meet along the way. The genesis of this series came when I began writing down some of the memories of my cycling trips and experiences, with a focus on what I had learned. The initial drafts then evolved when I was rewatching the movie Steve Jobs starring Michael Fassbender. In the movie, Jobs was in a restaurant and shared a story that was based on a Scientific America article he had read and discussed. Jobs articulated that the most efficient animal on the planet is the condor and the most inefficient animal is a human. But a human with a bicycle becomes the most efficient animal. He was interested in making the computer a bicycle for the mind.
This fired something in my brain and I recalled the book “All I Ever Needed to Know I learned in Kindergarten" and then the memories led me to my MBA strategy professor. He loved Star Trek and promoted the parallel concept, and book, "All I Really Needed to Know I Learned by Watching Star Trek." And so here we are. What started out as simple stories about cycling with analogies and metaphors has morphed into the idea of cycling through business and leadership.
Cycling, like business and leadership, is broad. So many different types, approaches, models, and opinions. I see the opportunity to use cycling to remind us as business professionals and leaders that there are forces at play. Physics. Laws of Equilibrium. Energy. For illustration, assume you have never ridden a bike. I put you on the bike and tell you to “find your why” to ride the bike. Most likely you will fall over. Was it because your “why” was not strong enough? Of course not. Having the right purpose and intention will get you on the bike to try and ride it, or keep you riding through long distance or bad weather But regardless of your strength of will, physics will win out every time because a bike at rest will fall over. And for this cycling is a fantastic illustration and model of the dynamics of the business landscape and the role of being a leader.
"Cycling Thru Business" will put value on understanding and experiencing the forces and energy to drive our business and ourselves forward, up, over, under, and through the obstacles and challenges. I hope the stories and examples will be a tool to help you increase self-awareness, look at problems differently, and have some fun combining bikes and business.
Not a huge cycling fan, that is OK. If you know how to ride a bike and have been around them on occasion, the majority of the stories will make sense and be relatable. For illustration, if you have driven over mountain passes you have probably experienced the constant shifting of of gears to deal with the varying grade. Or, maybe you been in a rental car exploring Colorado and come to a dirt road that leads to a beautiful lake you saw on Instagram. But the sign says “High Clearance Vehicle Recommended” and the sticker on the dash of the car says “Do not take this vehicle off-road.” Then you know there are road bikes and mountain bikes for a reason.
For those that are cycling enthusiasts, I hope, like me, you appreciate the emotional, and spiritual aspects of cycling. I love how the body and mind are connected and integrated into, by today's standard, a simple machine. I also appreciate the dynamics of working with others. The innovation, the energy, the creativity, the camaraderie, and the journey.
I, and I assume many of you, have realized the power of using analogies, especially with workshops, to develop creative solutions. You may do it yourself of you may have attended courses that incorporate different language or categories.
Something that worked for me was doing a Tuesday "Ride to Write" on my road bike. I would head out for an hour ride with either a concept, an issues, or absolutely nothing in my head. The goal was not to improve my cycling performance, but come up with a story, identify possible solutions to the issue or challenge, or think of a new connection on the bike. Most of the time this work, including the writing of this introduction. I would stop, dictate into my phone, and keep on riding. Note, I would do this on a quiet road ride and route. Never on my mountain bike on trails. To modify the Maverick quote in Top Gun from "you think, you're dead" to "you think, you're in the trees." Different types of riding, such as different business, roles, and the people we work with, all have the opportunity to teach us something new and provide different experiences.
Over the next few weeks, I will share a different cycling story or concept that correlates to business and leadership challenges that you may be facing. Next week will be a heavy hitter right out of the gate: How can tubeless tires, disc brakes, and full suspension bikes help us designing and implementing new technology and systems at our organizations?
I realize this is just an introduction, but I also want to share that I am raising money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) by participating in America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride with Team In Training. On June 4th I will ride around Lake Tahoe with hundreds of other fundraisers supporting the important work of LLS in fighting blood cancer and supporting the patients and families impacted by this diagnosis. If you are able, please consider a donation on my fundraising page:
