144: "Are We Going About Measuring Success All Wrong?" (reflections on Patrick Guerette)
After his conversation with Patrick Guerette, Erik reflects on a simple but uncomfortable idea: we may be measuring success completely wrong.
In sports, success is usually measured by medals, championships, and rankings. But those metrics only capture the athletes who survived the system—not the many who may have had potential but never made it through. The same thing happens in leadership.
Organizations celebrate the high performers who emerge at the top of the pyramid, but rarely ask what happened to everyone else along the way. Were they developed? Or did the system quietly eliminate them?
This episode is Erik thinking out loud about what happens when leaders stop focusing only on the winners and start paying attention to the system that produces them.
🎯 Top Insights from the Interview
- The medal count hides the real story. Olympic medals only show the winners, but they don’t reveal how many athletes were pushed out of the system before reaching their potential.
- The pyramid principle applies everywhere. Whether in sports or organizations, the height of elite performance depends on how broad the base of development is.
- Systems shape outcomes more than individuals do. Talent matters, but the environment surrounding people determines whether that talent grows or disappears.
- Early pressure can destroy long-term potential. Systems that chase immediate results often eliminate athletes—or employees—before they have time to develop.
- Development should be the primary goal. When a system focuses on development first, performance tends to follow naturally.
🧩 The Personal Layer
For Erik, this conversation triggered a deeper reflection about leadership. It’s easy to celebrate the top performers—the people who hit their numbers, get promoted, or win awards. But leaders rarely ask the harder question:
How many capable people never reached their potential because of the system we put them in? In sports, that might mean young athletes who burned out or were cut too early. In organizations, it might mean talented employees who disengaged because they were never coached, challenged, or developed.
The uncomfortable truth is that leaders design the environment that determines how people grow. When a system is designed well, potential expands. When it isn’t, talent quietly disappears.
🧰 From Insight to Action
- Evaluate the base of your pyramid. How many people in your organization are truly being developed—not just evaluated?
- Look beyond the winners. The real test of a system isn’t how many stars it produces, but how many people improve.
- Design for development, not just performance. Create systems that give people time and opportunity to grow.
- Pay attention to who disappears. Sometimes the most important data point is the talent that quietly leaves.
- Ask better questions about success. Instead of asking “Who won?”, start asking “How many people got better?”
🗣️ Notable Quotes
“The height of the pyramid is a function of how broad the base is.”
“We celebrate the winners, but we rarely ask what happened to everyone else.”
“Great systems don’t just produce champions—they develop people.”
🔗 Links & Resources
