Blog post 30 Innovate

INSIGHT 23 | MOMENTUM MATTERS

Some products are fleeting fads.

Others echo for generations.

Progress is hard earned, harder still when you’re running the wrong race.

Are you built for speed, but pacing a marathon?

in²³ | Momentum Matters

Know your audience… A tough crowd indeed

In the controlled world of the indoor velodrome, precision engineering meets human endurance at the highest cadence imaginable. Aerodynamics, material science, marginal gains, every watt counts. Yet unlike athletics or climbing, dominance here is fleeting, measured in moments, not seasons.

World records in track cycling are shattered at astonishing frequency, often by fractions of a second, and rarely by the same team twice. The baton passes from nation to nation, competitor to competitor, with every Olympic or World games cycle. Records can even be broken between qualifying rounds within the same event. The playing field is so precisely balanced that a single innovation or incremental enhancement can tilt the balance overnight.

Here, innovation is iterative, not enduring. The moment a record is set, the stopwatch resets. Victory belongs to whoever extracts one more micro-advantage before regulations tighten or technology equalises.

Contrast that with Formula 1, where a dominant car design can catapult a team to several years of supremacy, scooping pole positions and titles with consummate ease, until a rule change resets the grid. The pattern is similar in business: some sectors reward incremental sprinting, others strategic endurance.

The lesson for innovators is simple…

... Know your track. In some fields, you win through relentless iteration; in others, through setting an unassailable standard.

... Anticipate regulation. Just as F1 rule changes disrupt dominance, market shifts or sustainability standards can rewrite advantage overnight.

... Time your leap. A benchmark set too early may be overtaken; too late and the peloton is already ahead.

When the pace is relentless, cohesion and timing matter more than longevity. But when the opportunity arises to set a new benchmark, as Jonathan Edwards, Lynn Hill or Armand Duplantis did, the impact can echo for decades.

Recap: There are two distinct rhythms of innovation:

... Sprint. Fast cycles, small gains, relentless pursuit.

... Endure. Step change, stability, long-term leadership.

The challenge for any innovator is knowing which game you’re playing. If your market moves like the velodrome, you win through pace and iteration.

If it mirrors Formula 1, focus on research and the application of the latest advances in technology. Every detail counts. Build a foundation that’s on the cutting edge but falls just on the side of reliable, repeatable yet adaptable. Always plan ahead for the impending rule changes. After all you know they’re coming!