An Olympian Opens, An Economist Closes at CompTIA’s EMEA Conference

The CompTIA EMEA Members and Partners Conference opened this year with Olympic cyclist, gold medallist and three-time world record holder Chris Boardman. Introduced by CEO Todd Thibodeaux, Boardman inspired the room with a direct and clear lesson on what he believes makes a truly high-performing team. His presentation focused on one clear example – the British Cycling innovation team – which he said is the highest-performing team he has ever worked with.

Boardman, who started out as a carpenter just outside Liverpool, shared with CompTIA members the tools that enabled him to gain Olympic success, as well as push the next generation of Olympians. Despite his somewhat narrow focus on cycling, his knowledge and experience captured all, as his highs and lows in competition echoed the world of business and the challenges and rewards of working with people.

Boardman said a constant need to be better and a willingness to develop have been the on-going drivers of his success. He shared anecdotes of crisis management and having to cope under pressure; from miraculously fixing broken equipment hours before a race to feeling responsible for impending crises.

Boardman’s stories served as useful personal and professional reminders to all. He asserted that success is not about being the one with the best ideas, but rather being “the one who could ask the best questions” and having an open mind to innovative ideas. To Boardman, a key characteristic behind a successful high performing team is an atmosphere that cultivates the best ideas, regardless of whether or not the source has any experience in the field.

There were many different highlights of the Olympian’s presentation; from videos of acrobatic squirrels outwitting 20 professional film crew members to interactive corporate games he used to force delegates to communicate together. By the time he’d spoken for an hour there was a feeling of inspiration around the room. The end result was more than just an atmosphere ready to embrace ideas; it was an industry ready to face impending challenges head-on.

The closing keynote could not have been more different in terms of style, approach and content. Advertising mogul Rory Sutherland spoke at length about behavioural economics and their impact on the decisions we make as people in business. The premise was simple – we make too many decisions at work based on how we think individuals will respond, not how they will actually respond.

Sutherland’s presentation was built around example after example of real world decisions in sales, marketing and R&D that demonstrated his central point – understand people and their behaviors and you will be able to influence their decisions. A fantastic example was the success of Dyson vacuum cleaners in the U.K. Now the leading vacuum brand in many global markets, its success is built not on the innovation of the product – Sutherland cleverly highlighted that a bag-less vacuum cleaner actually creates more mess than one with a bag – but on the premise that it makes cleaning the house feel more exciting than using a standard appliance. No one actually cares about bag-less vacuums; they care about enjoying something they previously didn’t.

Another simple but brilliant illustration Sutherland presented was based around the idea of cutting price to drive demand. Traditional economics tells us that lower-priced products will sell better. In reality, they rarely do, because as people we place price and quality in the same bucket. No teenage child on Earth will choose £15 shoes over £115 shoes, even if the £15 ones look better, are better made and are more comfortable. Sutherland pointed out that no brand leaders in any market are the cheapest option. He said rapid price-dropping can cause monumental damage because the short-term happiness created by a drop in price is quickly replaced with the assumption that the low price is the norm. Getting back up from a low price is one of the hardest things for a company or service provider to do.

Sutherland’s canny and relevant presentation kept the room absolutely silent for an hour. It was mesmerizing. His critical point was a simple one – understand people and their behaviors and you will be able to make better business decisions. It was the same principle highlighted in many of the sessions today – know your customers, understand them and what they want, know how they will react to change and plan accordingly. CompTIA members at the EMEA conference saw some of the best speakers in the U.K. impart much important information to them, all of which can help them make better business decisions.