A (true) business fairytale
by Fred Roed on 05/09/06 at 8:43 pm
2 comments
This morning, while swanning around the city centre, I decided to fit in a ‘session’ at the gym. The new Virgin Active in Cape Town has a killer swimming pool, so a couple of lengths between meetings seemed like a good idea to boost my endorphins, get my confidence up – that sort of thing.
The pool was empty except for a scrawny young girl on the opposite side. I started swimming at the same time as she did. I started off with my usual frantic strokes, carving up the pool, and by the second length I had passed her. When I did, I felt the familiar satisfaction that we as humans get when we surpass another human in some sort of endeavour, whatever it may be.
I carried on for around 15 lengths, passing her again. Then a strange thing happened. This frail, strange-looking kid started to catch up to me. At first it was imperceptible – almost like I was being followed. A panicky feeling welled up inside me. Slowly, steadily, she was eating up the distance I had put on her. ‘Slap – slap – slap’ – her strokes were metronomic, unstoppable. I would set off on a length, beating the water like mad, and then rest breathless at the other end. Once I had done 30 lengths, she was matching me length for length.
Right then, before she could overtake me, I saw on the clock that I had to get ready for my next appointment. I hopped out thankfully and slunk off to the changing room.
Not sure what it is, but there’s a business lesson in there, somewhere.
Fred Roed is the marketing guy in the Ideate crew. Fred is the CEO of web marketing company World Wide Creative and the co-founder of online learning portal Heavy Chef. Fred loves writing about people out there doing marketing right. Follow Fred on Twitter here. View more articles by Fred Roed.
Aubrey
Sep 5th, 2006
There isn’t a business lesson Fred, just a life lesson. The lesson’s title is “You’re getting old…”
Shane
Sep 6th, 2006
Maybe the business lesson is this: Never underestimate the scrawny “competitor” that you forgot to pay attention to because you were too busy focusing on perfecting your strokes!