His Flop was a Hit

Dick Fosbury and his eponymous “Flop” revolutionized the sport of high-jumping and became one of the best metaphors for innovation.

First, my friend Adam txted me.

Then I got an email from my friend Cathy.

Then another txt from a colleague. And yet another from my cousin.

All with the same article attached. And a line that said something to the effect of, ‘You should write about this on your blog.”

The article was the obituary of Dick Fosbury. The Olympic high jumper who utterly changed the sport of high jumping with his “Fosbury Flop.”

You see the sport had simple rules: go from a position on the ground and with a leap --jump over the bar without touching it. Once cleared, the bar would be placed higher and the same rules apply: Jump up. Clear bar. Land.

For years, athletes approached it the same way. They gathered some steam, leapt and jumped over the bar in a “hurdler’s style.” Sometimes referred to as a “scissor.”

Everything faced front.

Dick Fosbury, a rather gangly, somewhat un-athletic-looking chap who wasn’t even athletic enough to make his Oregon State University’s football or basketball teams did things backwards. His own way. A new way.

He approached the bar with a backward leap and undulated his body to clear the bar – back-first. Not front-facing, foot first.

And not only was this a new way, it was a better way. A way that earned Mr Fosbury Olympic Gold in 1968 in Mexico City.

It was an approach that changed the sport forever.

These days when you hear the term “Fosbury Flop” it’s often with regard to innovation. Or Disruption.

The Flop is an apt metaphor for literally “changing the game.”

I think there’s something wonderful and profound in this story for you.

You see, Dick Fosbury was kind of an ordinary dude. And while he had a grand vision to be an Olympian, his body didn’t necessarily comply.

He needed the “Flop,” his different and breakthrough approach, to succeed.

Think about your “Gold.”

What’s a hurdle you have to clear to achieve your vision?

What rules and circumstances are keeping you from soaring?

It pays to keep ol’ Dick Fosbury mind when you see a bar you think you can’t clear.

What can you do to change the game?

What is your Flop?

(By the way, I once worked on a great commercial about Dick Fosbury. You can view it here. )