My moto gymkhana competition, 2014
How much is the ability to accelerate quickly worth without the ability to brake? Not much, because effective speed equals zero if you crash at the first traffic light.
Yet that's exactly what happens when the market grows steadily for a long time. A whole array of founders and CEOs emerge, having learned only one thing—pressing the gas pedal to the floor.
When it comes to cooling down the market, neither they nor their businesses are prepared. Adjusting the business model, restructuring debt, reducing burn rate—these and other lifesaving actions are not their forte or are decided upon too late.
An experienced biker knows that braking requires a special skill that needs separate training. If you squeeze the rear brake too hard, the motorcycle will skid, and if you hit the front brake, you'll flip over the handlebars headfirst.
Ignorance of the potential of brakes leads to a situation where, when faced with an obstacle, the biker panics, lays the motorcycle on its side, and ends up hitting exactly what they were trying to avoid due to sliding.
However, true mastery is demonstrated when it's necessary to perform a very complex maneuver that requires simultaneous play on all "keys"—gas, brake, and clutch. In motorsport, there is a discipline called gymkhana—a competition for maneuvering through a course with numerous cones at the highest speed. The business equivalent is a prolonged period of high uncertainty when companies can neither move straightforwardly nor come to a stop — it requires non-stop maneuvering.
A company, like a motorcycle in gymkhana, must be "in full stretch," when the leader manages the clash of opposing forces in a way that maintains system stability, deftly navigates dangers, and accelerates when opportunities arise.
Yours sincerely,
-Alexander
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