“Over the long term, given my consistency and relentless focus, you cannot win, I will be champion”

It struck me then that the world is replete with the James Hunt type organizations.

They launch a great product, dazzle initial customers, bending backward to please them, thus overall delivering an awesome experience. Customers line up. Growth happens. Growth comes rapidly. And then…….

Processes go haywire. The hot pace the organization started off with cannot be sustained. Early customers who were used to the platinum-plated experience too face neglect. Word gets around. The flash of brilliance they exhibited when they launched off withers away. Customers bemoan the lack of commitment the organization exhibits.

But do remember the organization is still brilliant, still has great product functionality but the stamina required to consistently sustain the early high experience bar is lost.

Customers love a great experience. What they love even more is consistency in that experience. They do not want a flash of brilliance one month and mediocrity another. They love being able to predict what is the experience in-store.

Design your experience to be consistent and keep raising that bar.

So how did the Lauda-Hunt story end? Hunt indeed won one championship, never another retired and faded away as a driver. Lauda, went on to win three FI championships, two of them amazing comebacks and is regarded as one the finest racers the world has seen.

Consistency indeed beats mere flashes of brilliance.

“The line between bubbling glory and burning disaster is pretty thin, Winners are those who understand this and live by it” Niki Lauda

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