Win ugly - inch by inch

17 June 2009

One of them is undoubtedly the arena in the middle which stages various events, such as yesterday lunchtime watching the Lions game on a big screen with my colleague, and general rugby legend, Rob Henderson , who played in these games not so long ago.

The reason I mention this is because of something Hendo said later on in the evening when doing an entertaining half hour spot on BBC Radio 5 Live about the British & Irish Lions chances of actually winning the test series. As someone who actually pulled on the famous red jersey he should know what he is talking about, and he mentioned that in the first test at least, he would be happy to see them “win ugly”.

It seems to me that this phrase can apply to many at the moment. In tough conditions it is all about doing the hard graft, putting in the effort and trying to keep your head above water. I see a lot of this hard slog in our industry, more creativity, people re-inventing themselves.

When you really think about it, perhaps it is these times that actually push us forward, rather than being able to rest on our laurels in an easy market, the innovation that comes in the hard times provides the bedrock for future prosperity. The kick up the ass many needed to make the necessary changes to their working environment that perhaps they should have done ages ago.

It’s about little victories, inch by inch – if anyone knows Al Pacinos’ superb motivational speech to his American Football team in the film “Any Given Sunday” – well, that sums it up.

Hendo is right, before you can play a wonderful free-flowing game you have to earn the right. Sometimes you just have to win ugly, and those that put in the hard graft now, will be flying when things finally turn round.

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