Time flies! I have originally published this post on Medium back in March 2018. Now that the 2026 Winter Olympics came to an end, the 2018 insights still stand.
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It’s been a blast. Over the last weeks I have been following closely the inspiring athletes compete in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. It turns out my time was very well spent: There was so much to learn. Even that time I got up at 5 am on a Sunday to cheer the German ice hockey team.
I absolutely enjoyed watching the fantastic performance of the Olympic athletes across all the thrilling competitions. My eyeballs were equally at their very best, eagerly staring at the telly to witness some valuable lessons taught by the Olympians.
They have exposed fundamental, particularly psychological and social skills. Skills which are often overlooked in the design profession where creativity, craftsmanship, endurance and subject matter expertise are still held dear first and foremost.
So, here’s a little list what the Olympic and Paralympic athletes can teach any designer, any professional really how to move forward and make a difference in their job. In no particular order:
1 — Realism
I watched them fail and succeed. It struck me that those athletes who missed the podium did not come across as envious, sore losers. Quite the contrary they have acknowledged their defeat and their competitors’ success. They immediately realised and admitted their mistake internally towards their own team and externally to their competitors without shifting the blame on others.
2 — Teamgeist (team spirit)
The very best individual performance is worth very little when the overall team performance and outcome are poor. This means you are responsible in equal measure for your and your teammates’ success. That is no extra burden, but a great relief since you are unlikely to perform top-notch in every single moment.
In those instances your team can back you and outweigh your performance. Team spirit is a synergy of over- and underperforming teammates who collectively can score big after all. The medalists kept stressing their achievements would not have been possible without the support of their mates, coaches, technicians, physios, cooks et al.
3 — Belief & Relentlessness
It ain’t over till it’s over. Another feature that helped achieving and literally scoring goals was the athlete’s belief paired with relentlessness. Even though some Olympians were said to not stand a chance against their almighty competitors, they did anyway.
The German ice hockey players kept stressing it was the belief in themselves that made the unthinkable true: Backed by their self-confidence they kept going and going until they won their silver medal despite predictions of an early knock-out in the tournament.
4 — Foresight
“No one likes change, except babies in their wet nappies.” However times have moved on also in the Winter Olympics. Freestyle skiing and snowboarding is established and right up there with the classic disciplines like alpine skiing, ski jumping or biathlon.
The German associations have missed the moment to make the necessary investments and structural changes to promote promising German freestyle talents across ski/snowboard cross, halfpipe, slopestyle, big air, moguls and aerials. It tells us to be alert, open-minded and follow closely where the currents are heading.
5 — Versatility
The Czech Olympian Ester Ledecka wowed everyone when she gave it a go in the alpine ski event only to find herself on top of the podium with the super-G gold medal. That is particularly remarkable considering her focus was actually on the snowboard event where she also won the race.
This is a strong reminder for us to strive toexpand our skillset without abandoning our core strengths. No one expects us to be equally good throughout our T-shape. That makes it even more astonishing for the people around us (and ourselves) when we perform out of our comfort zone.
6 — Reinvention
Shaun White won his third Olympic gold medal after Turin and Vancouver with a final run that left his rivals and spectators gobsmacked. He gave us a strong hint why it pays off to not stick with what we’ve learned but reinvent ourselves. White realised he had to progress years ago when he came up with a new move (”Tomahawk”), which meanwhile has been adapted by his competitors. The tricks are evolving so quickly so there is a big need to keep exploring the “what’s next?”.
The sole reinvention won’t secure the win though. It’s a matter of how you combine and showcase these new ideas (tricks) and how to incorporate them into your portfolio. This is especially important in times where the lines between imitation and inspiration become very thin and often blurred.
7 — Maturity
The US snowboarder Shaun White (31) is a fair bit older than the 19 year old Japanese halfpipe runner-up Ayumu Hirano. Besides showcasing his incredible tricks combo, White’s overall experience certainly made up a good chunk of his Pyeongchang gold medal.
Skier Andre Myhrer (35) left all his younger competitors behind in the Men’s Slalom. Zenhäusern (Silver, 25), Matt (Bronze, 24), Pinturault (4th, 26) and particularly the highly rated Kristoffersen (23) did not manage to beat Myhrer on that day. This should reassure the more experienced professionals among us that they bring an extremely valuable asset to the game that no youngster can cover: maturity.
8 — Honesty
Common sense: Cheating is simply not worth it. The “Olympic Athletes from Russia” weren’t allowed to start under the flag of Russia because of doping. Well, that did not stop Russian curler Alexander Krushelnitskiy to dope.
He gave us a little reminder that disregarding the rule of fair play is pointless. You can only lose (in this case an Olympic bronze medal) and earn the disrespect from even your closest allies.
9 — Comeback
German biathlete Arnd Peiffer got off to a surprisingly brilliant start in Pyeongchang when he won the 10 km Sprint. Hopes where high accordingly when he started in the Mixed Relay. His teammates demonstrated an outstanding performance whereas he didn’t keep his cool what blew all chances for a medal.
Peiffer did not fall into the abyss, but came back, focused to pull off an amazing performance in the Men’s Relay what secured the German team the bronze medal after all. He later stated “to be at ease with himself” now that he recovered and justified the confidence his team placed in him.
What a beautiful example that ensures us it’s totally okay to fail — as long as we get up, learn from our mistakes and come back strong.
10 — Modesty
It is crucial to enjoy the moment of your success. Pause for a second, visualise and celebrate all your hard and long work up to that point. Don’t brag about it as that leaves a bad aftertaste just like the bitching of sore losers.
I have not seen one single Olympic winner boast about their triumph. It was a pleasure to observe them indulging in their well-deserved victory, reaping the fruit of their labour.
These examples are the ones which I like to think of as The 10 Olympic Virtues 🥇 which we can take in and act out as not so sporty desk workers. There are certainly far more learnings to take away beyond those captured above, such as “preparation is key”. Feel free to add yours to the list :)