The USA men's two-man bobsled team had not won an Olympic medal in 60 years. Recent Olympics had seen other USA bobsledding medal droughts come to an end.
In a sport measured to the hundredths of a second, every detail of the driving and sled can be the difference between a medal and going home empty-handed. In preparation for the 2014 Olympics, USA Bobsled teamed with BMW to design a high-tech sled for their two-person teams.
It was a three-year process that has some lessons the church can learn about designing and implementing new technology.
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9 Lessons for the Church
1. Start Early
The process for the new bobsled from design to racing took over three years.
Church: The bigger the goal, the longer the process takes.
2. Define the Goal
The bobsled teams had the goal of earning a medal. Of course, gold was the ultimate goal, but they were very satisfied with a medal of any color.
Church: Define what success looks like.
3. Enlist the Experts
The bigger the goal, the more expert abilities are needed.
Church: Sometimes it is well worth the investment to bring in an expert to provide the tools to help you do your ministry more efficiently.
4. Find Creative Funding
The U.S. Bobsled & Skeleton Federation did not fund this project. Through the partnership with BMW as a sponsor, it was BMW who paid for the development of the new sleds. BMW learned some great design elements that they can now include in their cars.
Church: Forging good relationships can open creative funding opportunities. Work out deals with developers and vendors so they can take a custom designed tools and sell them to others if they give you a price break.
5. Train, Train, Train
The teams continued to train during the development period. When it came time to test the new sleds, the teams spent hours getting used to the new equipment and training, training, training.
Church: Be sure to invest in your teams. Continuing education and training are crucial. (For more on this, see Steve Law's article, Tools for Your Staff)
6. Test Privately
Hours were spent in the wind tunnel and on the bobsled track at Lake Placid.
Church: Test technology before putting it into production.
7. Launch Softly
The bobsled teams began using the new sleds in international competition in the season prior to the 2014 Winter Olympics. They did not wait to debut the new sleds at the Olympics. Those early races were not that good. Even though the teams had tested the sled on real tracks prior to competition, it was not until they entered the sled into these International competitions that they were able to get a true sense of the little things that needed to be adjusted.
The soft launch was beneficial to the U.S. Bobsled team. In the World Cup circuit leading up to the Olympics, Steve Holcomb's team won five of the eight races on the men's side to win the overall title. Elana Myers and Aja Evans took second in the World Cup overall for the women.
Church: It is always best to do a “soft launch” with technology. It is referred to as a soft launch since there is no fanfare marketing campaign behind it. There are some technology implementations such as website or app that would benefit from a formal launch after a soft launch period.
Whether it is a new child check-in system, sound system, kiosks, etc, resist the urge to launch on big weekends like Christmas and Easter. Soft launch these at other times of the year so they can be at their peak performance before the larger weekends.
8. Have a Backup
In a training run at the 2014 Winter Olympics, one of the ladies two-person teams had a wreck. This is not unusual for teams in the training runs as they get used to the new track. However, this wreck damaged the new sled to the point is could not be repaired before competition. There was a “spare” sled on display at the USA House in the Olympic Village. Engineers quickly moved that “spare” sled to the track and prepared it for racing. That sled was driven to a silver medal by the team of Elana Meyers and Lauryn Williams, which also happened to be the highest finish of these new sleds.
Church: Always have a backup plan, and be ready to use it.
9. Perform As A Team
Steven Holcomb, a three-time Olympian in the 2014 Olympics and America’s top bobsled driver, explains there are three crucial elements that have to work together.
You have to have a great push, a great driver, and you have to have a great sled. If you’re missing one of those at this level, you’re not gonna win. You’re not gonna be successful. [Read more]
Church: Each of the following need to work together.
- Purpose (see #2 above)
- People (see #3, #5)
- Process (see #1, #4, #6, #7)
- Technology (see #7, #8)
Final Results
For the record, here are the great results for U.S. Bobsledding in the 2014 Olympics.
Two-person teams with these new BMW sleds.
- Women: 1 Silver and 1 Bronze
- Men: 1 Bronze, breaking the 60 drought mentioned at the beginning of this article.
Four-man teams (note: only men race 4-person sleds) using the Night Train sleds that helped break the 60 year drought for U.S. four-man in the 2014 Olympics.
- Bronze
Need Help?
If you are implementing some new technology and would like some advice or coaching through the process, I can help. Whether you need help developing a plan from scratch or simply a review of an existing plan to see if it can be improved, I can help. If you are interested, click here to start the conversation.
[reminder]What other lessons would you add to this list?[/reminder]
Sources:
- http://www.autoweek.com/article/20140219/CARNEWS/140219813
- http://www.digitaltrends.com/sports/bobsled-sochi/#!yZSUP
- http://www.nbcolympics.com/sport/bobsled
- http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Bobsled-Skeleton-Federation/Features/2014/February/19/Meyers-and-Williams-claim-womens-bobsled-Olympic-silver-medal
- http://news.discovery.com/adventure/extreme-sports/bmw-designed-bobsleds-offer-us-team-sleek-speed-1402031.htm
- http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-30/bmw-designs-ultimate-bobsled-for-team-usa
- http://www.bmwusa.com/teamusa#home