The parallel between the Babolat connected racket and business performance
Passionate about tennis and a true competitor, I recently had the opportunity to test the 2014 novelty, the French Babolat Play & Connect racket.
This racket is equipped with light sensors. Neither the weight or the balance are modified. In fact, the racket gathers data from each shot (forehand, backhand, and serve). It also collects data from ball spins.
Data can be transmitted through USB or by Bluetooth directly on your smartphone, tablet, and computer.
The data processing and analysis technology also feature a community platform which allows peer-to-peer communication. Each player equipped with the Play & Connect racquet has access to the platform and can challenge and help a user, and also comment and share a fellow player’s posts.
Beyond the technological and innovative aspect for any tennis player, the parallel with the corporate world and Business Intelligence struck me.
The objective around this racket is to help a player improve its game which can be similar to a company’s mindset. Eric’s slogan is: “everything that can be measured can be improved.”
Amateur tennis players get 2 indicators when measuring their performance. First, the outcome of a game (win/lose). And the end of year ranking (rise/fall).
During a season, you might often hear: “I am playing well today, I serve well, my backhand is improving, I didn’t put a ball in the court, I do not understand why I lost…”. Very little data is objective and related to relevant measures. Only professionals have external feedback from either their coach or game statistics.
Business indicators are sometimes very limited. Business win or lose (games), and the year-end balance sheet (annual ranking) and other few indicators that hide in Excel files!
We need measures, dimensions, and continuous information to see if we are improving and how.
Large companies are equipped as professional tennis players but do not always have a comprehensive approach. Smaller businesses often work on “emotions”, similarly to amateur tennis players.
This simplistic parallel is to remind us of the importance and usefulness of dashboards. And this, on a daily basis to improve business.
“Everything that is measured can be improved”
Contact : eric.gavoty@digdash.com / www.digdash.com