To this point we have talked about the open’s effect on our programming and on you. Our final part is about how it will improve our gym!
Good to Great
I think I was in grad school all of 3 seconds before I was handed this book. Jim Collins examined over 1,000 companies across 40 years and narrowed it down to just 11 companies that he considered great. He then wrote about those 11 and highlighted the key things that made them that way.
I bring this up because as you examine your own self as an athlete for your individual strengths and weaknesses and then establish a battle plan to improve, I do the same for the gym.
During this process, I always start with the same question – “What makes a gym great?”. Or perhaps a different way to look at it – “What is the difference between a good gym and a great one?”
And when I say great, I do not take the world lightly. I’m using it in the same context as Collins – as in the 11 out of 1,000+ or better said – the top 1%.
Good
- Gives members the best hour of their day
- Has a strong central figure/Coach with a solid supporting cast
- Offers nutrition and accountability help and education
- Members become better athletes. See results physically and mentally
- Builds a strong gym community
Great
- Adds value beyond just the hour
- There is no central figure/Coach. The team is the hero.
- Incorporates nutrition and accountability from the start
- Members become better humans, not just better athletes
- Builds a strong local community
how do we stack up?
Being a great company or in our case a gym is a constant process. I believe it starts by having moments of greatness. Then those moments happen more frequently and suddenly aspects of greatness are woven into the very identity of that company/gym. As with a relationship, it’s always something you have to work on but if based on the right principles greatness will prevail.
In general, the intramural open was a moment of greatness for SciCoh. The impact was beyond your physical accomplishments. Many recognized or were recognized by others inside our community. Others did things to help those in our local community – heck, with the blood drive on its way it’s still happening! And I’d even dare say the value we added was well beyond the hour you were in the gym…or in many of your cases the 2+ hours you were there because you came to cheer people on too!
It’s unreasonable to expect the high of the open to be the new normal…honestly, I don’t think we could physically or emotionally handle that! BUT, there are some elements we can take from that experience to get us a little closer to great on a daily basis.
Great things coming
Value Beyond The Hour
1. Monthly SciCoh Vlog. An unexpected hit was our ridiculous weekly vlogs (checkout my social media slang there). It was something totally random we did for fun, but many of you actually watched them and gave us some good feedback. I do think it was a neat vehicle to build community, highlight amazing things, and add value. Weekly would be a bit much, so starting in May we will launch the monthly SciCoh vlog. We will highlight PRs, members, big moments, and share tips and information that might just make your day a little better.
2. More Articles, Videos, and Posts. Many of you occasionally or even regularly search for information on how to be a little bit better. Whether it’s information on how to master double unders or finally get your firs pull-up, we want to be the ones helping you. In fact, we require Coaches to produce at least 2 pieces of content a month. That means you will get at least 10 items a month and at least 120 pieces by the end of the year!
3. Super Top Secret Item (Mention #1) – I’m pulling together something that should add a ton of value for you and maybe even make you proud to be part of SciCoh. I’m working out the details, so I can’t announce it yet, but something is coming.
Building better humans and community
1. Monthly Impact Awards. Without a doubt the best addition to the open this year was the impact award. You’d be surprised what a little recognition can do for someone. And let’s face it, as good as it feels to be recognized, it feels darn good to do the recognizing!
So at any time you can submit an impact award. At the end of each month, we will announce them on our monthly vlog and post them up on our board inside the gym.
You can find the link under our “Member Area” menu.
2. Quarterly Community Outreach. If you watch the news or even halfway pay attention to social media, it’s easy to be discouraged and overwhelmed by the nastiness and darkness that is out there. I want SciCoh to be the light locally.
We have amazing people and an incredible community. I want to spread that amazingness like wildfire! At least quarterly, we will rally behind some sort of community outreach effort.
This quarter it’s the blood drive. Next quarter it could be anything.
Ideally, I want this to come from you. Let me know what you are passionate about and we can make something happen.
3. Super Top Secret Item Mention #2 – That super secret item I mentioned earlier…yeah, it’s going to help the broader community too. I’m pumped.
I only talked about 3 of the 5 elements that make a great gym because those are the only ones really impacted by the open. BUT, the other 2 (team of heroes and nutrition/accountability) are super important AND we are doing some cool things in both spaces.
I guess I know what my next 2 content pieces will be 🙂
