Applying Hockey Canada Lessons to the Canadian Business World

Canada is really, really, really Great. 

A lowercase ‘G’ felt inappropriate after that statement.

Because we’re so great, I think we have a responsibility to play a bigger role on the global stage, but to credibly do so, we need more amazing Canadian businesses to scale and stay home; we need to build and support winners.

A Waterloo University study says that Canadian values include: fairness, inclusion, democracy, diversity, health, equity, economic security, sustainability, and safety. All very fine values worth exporting and promoting abroad, no doubt. But as you look at them on the whole, I think there’s a competitive component missing, isn’t there? The Canada I know loves to win and its values should reflect that.

Do we love hockey because we invented it? No. It’s because we’re the best at it. 

Are we the best at it because we invented it? That certainly helps, but that’s not totally right. 

We’re the best at it because we got the jump on everyone else and then we built an infrastructure around the game that allows us to continuously produce the Howe’s, Gretzky’s Lemieux’s, Crosby’s, and McDavid’s of the world. We’ve made winning at hockey a part of our identity, it’s important to us, and what’s important usually gets attention and investment. 

What I want for Canada in 2020 (and moving forward) is to do exactly what we’ve done with hockey in the business space: 

• Invent the game (or in this case re-invent it)
• Build the infrastructure
• Make it a part of who we are
• WIN

PS: Congrats to our World Junior Hockey team! And Bettman, let the pro's play in the Olympics!