Speed = Distance / Time

If you are reading on a smartphone, use landscape / hold phone sideways. 

In sports, speed is usually important. 

Bat speed, club head speed, how fast can you throw it. The fastest person to win (X) games or the fastest person to get (X) hits or whatever. Speed is a thing that most people can easily relate to - rapidity in moving, going, traveling, proceeding or performing. You know, swiftness.

If you work at full or optimum speed, that is usually a good thing. If you are up to speed, you would be functioning or producing at an expected, acceptable or competitive level - up to par. Like, "the new guy is not yet up to speed." 

Larry Csonka's New York area book signing event lasted a few hours. But, each person only got a minute or two. Some people brought magazines to be signed, or replica helmets. There were people with Dolphin's tattoos, and there must have been hundreds of #39 Dolphin NFL jerseys in the building. 

I think it would be safe to say that Larry was not the fastest runner in the NFL - pretty sure his teammate Eugene Edward "Mercury" Morris was much faster. No, Larry Csonka was not like most speedy running backs. He wasn't fast per se, and he was not the most agile player either. What he did possess was the ability to run the ball with power. 

Now when I say power, I'm talking about an athlete that could burst through the line, bowling over defenders, and leave them in his wake. He was the definition of a power back, one that could will his way to big yards and scores. Yep, one of the best fullbacks to ever play the game. Not a speedy runner, no. Just one of the best. 

Bob Hayes is the fastest player in NFL history. At the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Hayes won the 100 meter and broke the existing World Record with a time of 10.06 seconds. A three-time Pro Bowler, Hayes was inducted to the Football Hall of Fame in 2009. Ever hear of Bob Hayes? This is not a knock on Bob Hayes, but I never heard of him. Have you, my good blog reader, ever heard of (not fast) Larry Csonka? Yes. I bet you have heard of Larry Csonka before reading this Sunday blog.  

Sometimes, speed is the measure. And sometimes, success becomes even more dramatic with the absence of speed. 

In around 2000 I was running a company which was servicing the Maritime Industry with telecom and technology services. I owned MTP - MaritimeTechnologyPartners.com  Do you remember BlackBerry? Man, that was such a hot product. I was working with a company named AireSpring as they were a big deal reselling BlackBerry phones and BlackBerry service. At its peak in September 2011, there were 85 million BlackBerry subscribers worldwide. However BlackBerry lost its dominant position in the market due to the success of the Android and iOS platforms.

Now, 23 years later, we are a Master Agent for AireSpring - a Super Carrier - offering their Cloud Communications, Managed Connectivity and Managed Security. Wow, 23 years. Definitely NOT a speedy relationship - but today, one of our best vendors. After all this time, a contract that we executed over twenty years ago - a supplier relationship that started way back in 2000 - is one of our most valuable. One of our best. 

In business, sometimes speed is the measure. How long will this take? When will it be ready? Is there a deadline? Can we get it any faster? Can we get the delivery any sooner? Sometimes the true value is not is the speed, but the value is actually in the lack of speed. 

Sometimes it's all about the legacy. 

MTP - www.ManagedTelecomPartners.com is back!