Winning

1. Last weekend Valentino Rossi came second in the Moto GP at the Sachsenring, and as a result took the lead in the championship. Rossi is an experienced rider and a superb tactician, and there seems little doubt that he settled for second place on the day. One insight from his pit crew, was that their choice of tyres was made by copying the majority of their competitors.

Maybe it's simply a low-risk strategy. Or maybe it's a recognition that the only thing the team has to do is match - not necessarily beat - everyone else's engineering. Because what Valentino does, is ride the bike better than everyone else. It's an interesting lesson in how to win by focussing on the unique difference that you alone can make.

2. At a nursery somewhere in Gloucestershire earlier today, half a dozen three-year-olds lined up for an egg-and-spoon race on their sports day. As the whistle blew, five careered happily across the grass towards the finish line. The last carefully put one arm behind his back, and then purposefully walked forward. He took quite a long time to reach the tape because he was being very careful not to drop the egg, and not to cheat. He may not have won the race that everyone else was in, but he did win his own.

Status

In a serviced office, the support staff are briefed on the imminent arrival of the executive board of a government department, including the Permanent Secretary. There is tension and nervousness.

The board arrives, and its members deport themselves with dismissive disdain for the minions deployed about them.

The minister arrives, and is courteous, friendly, and talks to all as an equal.

As the team heads off to their meeting room, the receptionist says 'well at least one of them treated me as a human being'.

This board is responsible for one of the government's highest profile departments, and spends huge amounts of taxpayers' money to deal with some of our most intractable problems. What sort of culture might we expect in their team, do you think, given their exemplary behaviour?

At the same time, look how easy it is to make a good impression. And see how long the memories linger for those who witness it.

Good technology (the perfect digital camera)

Bought a perfect digital camera the other day. There is a button to turn it on, a button to take pictures, a button to turn on the flash, a little screen, and an up/down arrow to view what you've already taken. To make it even easier to point it in the right direction, there is a viewer for each eye.

You might quibble with the design, because it's aimed at small children. Yet it's does absolutely everything most of us need from a camera.

You might quibble that nobody would buy such a cut-down version of technology. Then look at the success of the Flip, which takes a similar approach to digital video.

This camera is a piece of technology that's been designed very carefully for its customers, and it works. It would be interesting to see an adult version. It would be even more interesting to see a few more people take this approach to the application and sale of technology.