Do you KNOW YOUR RHYTHM? ??
In ping pong, everyone has their own unique timing when hitting the ball: right after the bounce, at the top of the bounce, after the top; there are thousands of micro-variations within. You have to know your rhythm and establish it in a rally, while understanding your opponent’s rhythm. And then you must know when to break the rhythm to your advantage.
Pong Principle #2: It’s a Rhythm Game, applies to all of our interactions whether we realize it or not.
I used to lead content strategy projects at digital agencies, for large consumer electronics, automotive, and financial services clients.
We usually had disciplined teams that aggressively completed work in short time frames, budget allowing. But this required the client to be equally disciplined. Unfortunately, our behemoth clients could not keep up with our velocity – our rhythm – of ideation, prototyping, iteration, and execution. It was not their culture – their rhythm. So a pattern of delays would occur, which cost our agency and our clients.
Our solution? Adjust the rhythm of the engagements. We established a slower tempo for certain milestones, used “matrixed” personnel (e.g., a designer at 60% on Client X and 40% on Client Y for stretches of time), and carefully mapped out client interactions based on particular client rhythms. Ultimately, we boosted our efficiency and flexibility without losing any revenue—and it kept clients happy.
Photo: 2006 US National Championships, Las Vegas
#tabletennis #PingPongLeadership #PongPrinciples #pingpong