This last Alloutcoach podcast episode of 2024 is the most personal and revealing to date. I openly reflect on my own performance and journey through successes and failures in my career in pharma and biotech. The discussion directly addresses the most critical external and internal factors that are driving the new reality of competition in healthcare and life sciences, pointing out key differences in our perceptions of external/internal competition in the world of sports versus pharma. Finally, the episode is centered on the most memorable examples of athletes or teams and their performances or disappointments at the 2024 Paris Olympics to provide 5 critical business lessons for individuals or organizations in the healthcare industry and beyond for a stronger, transformative 2025 year ahead.
0:00 Episode Intro Music
0:07 Highlight #1 – Three Times I was fired / laid off
2:45 Highlight #2 – Noah Lyles’ loss of gold medal at his best event – 200-meter sprint
3:35 Highilght #3 – Recipe for Consistency of High Performance
6:13 Episode Introduction – Summary of the 2024 Medical Affairs Innovation Olympics Opening Remarks
7:52 Detailed Episode Outline
8:49 Current State of Competition in Medical Affairs and Healthcare Industry
External and Internal Pressures of Competition and their Consequences.
Major Layoffs due to changing workflows and inaccurate forecasting.
Need of Medical Affairs to discover new power in medical decisions to stay competitive.
2024 Medical Affairs Innovation Spectrum – collaborating with tech to describe, predict, and prescribe best personalized treatments.
12:20 Our Perceptions of Competition vs Reality in Sports vs Pharma / Biotech
Life Compass with only two directions – Progress and Success
14:03 Why I have always gone to work as if it were a sport I liked to master
15:07 Case Study – Leading Medical to grow a Pharma Startup by $40 million through a head-to-head study analysis
18:07 Personal Reflection and Analysis – Why I was fired / reorganized / laid off three times
23:14 Paris 2024 Olympics Lesson #1 – Respect Your Competition
Noah Lyles’ claims of superiority in an event he dominated and disappointing bronze medal.
Recent personal observation and outcome of a child celebrating another’s failure and waiting for him to fail.
Gary Hall Jr, 5-time Olympic Gold Medalist – won his first Olympic gold only after he began to respect his arch rival.
27:58 Paris 2024 Olympics Lesson #2 – It is the Final Lean that Counts
Noah Lyles’ closest margin of gold medal victory in the 100-meter sprint.
Dominant Italian national teams in volleyball and water polo at the opening group stage missed the podium and could not medal.
29:51 Paris 2024 Olympics Lesson #3 - Recipe of Consistency is Proportions not Ingredients Alone
Carl Lewis’ remarkable consistency of winning 4 consecutive Olympic gold medals in the long jump.
Greek Long Jumper Miltiadis Tentoglou and Women’s South Korean Archery Team’s Consistency of defending their gold medals at the Paris Olympics.
Personal application of mastering cooking pasta professionally to mixing highest quality talent on a team with the right proportion and size of equipment and environment.
33:20 Paris 2024 Olympics Lesson #4 – Never Bypass the Basics to Stay in Competition
US Men’s 4 x 100 Sprint Relay Team’s Inefficient Baton Pass
Marquis Dendy, US veteran, best current long jumper’s
Damian Warner, Canadian decathlete Olympic gold medalist’s failure to post a jump at the opening height in the pole vault to miss the podium.
35:13 Paris 2024 Olympics Lesson #5 – Adapt to New Rules and Formats
The judge or new competition format led to an unpredictable result with a favorite team not able to adapt in Paris.
Celebrate Competition in Medical Affairs to stay competitive and relevant
