Making the impossible, possible with an Olympic-inspired mindset

You’d be hard pressed to find someone who hasn’t found moments of inspiration and awe watching the Paris Olympics in recent weeks.

And while I admire and applaud the athletes for their incredible feats and seemingly superhuman abilities, my thoughts are always with the people behind the scenes who have made the event happen. Why? Because I was once one of those people, part of a team delivering the Sydney 2000 Olympics - known as the best games ever.

The five years I spent on that team showed me what it means to do your best work, and to be part of something bigger than yourself.

As people and culture leaders and executives, you’re uniquely placed to bring this same sense of shared purpose and ambitious achievement to your own workplaces - because what I learned can be applied to any team or organisation.

Be bold and ambitious.

What’s something bold you could aim to achieve within your business? In the face of increasingly complex challenges and workplace dynamics, traditional methods of management are becoming redundant. Bold leadership is needed to identify audacious problems and to inspire teams with a clear, transformative purpose.

This means encouraging a culture of innovation where employees are motivated to think big and tackle seemingly insurmountable challenges.

One highly effective approach is the Exponential Organizations (ExO) Sprint, a corporate innovation bootcamp that empowers teams to come up with groundbreaking solutions to major problems. As the facilitator of many sprints such as this around the world, I’ve seen firsthand how this method not only fosters creativity but also builds future-ready capabilities in individuals and teams.

Consider how you can apply this in your company: What bold problems could your teams solve? How can you create an environment where employees feel empowered to innovate and take on challenges that stretch their abilities?

New ways of working.

The success of the Sydney 2000 Olympics wasn’t just about meticulous planning; it was also about adopting non-traditional ways of working. Teams were given autonomy and encouraged to collaborate, experiment, and learn from their experiences. This level of freedom, coupled with regular feedback loops, enabled us to achieve what many thought was impossible.

In your own workplace, consider how you can foster a work environment that balances autonomy with structured support. Allow your teams the space to innovate while providing the scaffolding they need to succeed.

By encouraging your teams to experiment, ask questions, and learn from their experiences, you can cultivate a culture where innovation thrives and employees feel supported.

A deadline is highly motivating.

Having an immovable schedule for the Olympic Games provided a time pressure and an intensity that drove us to achieve extraordinary things. In the world of work, applying this same principle through focused efforts and clear timeframes can result in big wins.

Think about how you could create focused innovation periods of ‘sprints’ in your own organisation, and challenge employees to step out of their routine work, think creatively, and deliver bold solutions within a set timeframe. This sense of urgency and purpose can lead to breakthrough ideas.

Don’t forget to celebrate the wins and acknowledge hard work as well, to reinforce the value of these contributions and the impact they’ve made.

Think bigger.

The Olympic mindset isn’t just about training hard to achieve a goal, it’s also about using the event itself as inspiration for being bigger and bolder in your understanding of what’s possible.

By creating the right conditions for innovation—autonomy, support, and intensity—you can transform your organisation into a hub of creativity and growth. And you don’t have to wait another four years to harness the Olympic energy.

Cherie Mylordis is a Sydney-based work futurist and transformation coach, and will be speaking at the Sprouta event ,The Future at Work: The Now and Future of Transformation on 29th August. Register here - https://activate.sprouta.com/future-of-transformation

This article originally appeared on LinkedIN - Making the impossible, possible with an Olympic-inspired mindset | LinkedIn

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