Re-assigning Knowledge

‘The Play’ – (American) football

It is 1981 and the University of Berkeley are playing Stanford in the final of the College Bowl. 100,000 baying supporters are either hysterical or stunned when Stanford kick a field goal to take a 21-18 lead with 4 seconds to go. Some of the Stanford players are already celebrating and the Stanford marching band is already in the ‘end zone’ playing celebratory victory music as Stanford wind down the formalities with a kick-off. In normal circumstances Berkeley will try to run the ball back at Stanford with almost no-hope of achieving anything.

But these are not normal circumstances. When under pressure we can display the most remarkable creative resourcefulness. It turns out that many of the Berkeley team double up as the Berkeley rugby team. So what can they do, that might surprise Stanford? They play rugby. With brilliant ball-handling they score a touchdown with no seconds remaining, the scorer … almost decapitating the Stanford marching band’s tuba player in the process. The crowd have only just begun to compute what has happened in their collective brains, the commentators cannot speak and the Stanford players are immobile. One of the greatest sporting moments anywhere, ever has just been witnessed.

Lesson – a critical element in idea generation is to learn to apply some knowledge and/or expertise from one area to another, related or entirely unrelated area. Rugby and (American) football are related. What about strawberries and customer service?

But there is a second lesson here. Never take success for granted.

Thanks to Stuart Moran (formerly of Berkeley) for showing me the YouTube on this one night in Ohrid, Macedonia last year.