What I learned from my “Olympic Experience”
You may have noticed that things have gotten rather quiet around this blog in the last month. I haven't abandoned or forgotten about it! In fact a little thing called the Winter Olympics rolled into my back yard, and I wasn't about to pass up on two full weeks of once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.
I wanted to let you all know what was up, so I thought I'd share with you a bit of what I've learned from my "Olympic Experience". I'm sure hindsight and historical context may change some of my opinions in the future, but right now this is what stands out to me:
1) Preparations and Contingency Plans Make All The Difference
Miracles can happen, but usually they don't. That's why they're called "miracles". It's better to put your faith in exhaustive preparation, and Vancouver was PREPARED.
As the world made note, our fourth pillar of the cauldron didn't go up during the Opening Cermony. But at worst it caused a few minutes of delay (and awkwardness), because we had a contingency plan. Switch to only 3 pillars, manual control. I'm sure there was a plan in case THAT failed, too. In the end, the failure even gave us an opportunity to make fun of ourselves... the final pillar going up during the closing ceremonies was probably my favourite part.
Transit (the trains and buses) had a huge marketing campaign to make sure everyone knew what their plan was, and what they should do. It worked... vehicle traffic was significantly reduced downtown, ridership skyrocketed, and everyone still got to work on time.
My whole company had a series of contingency plans to account for any disruption - most didn't even come into effect, but knowing that we had plans, knowing what we had to do, made us feel comfortable. No matter what happened, things would be okay. The city would survive. It freed us to have fun.
2) Go with the flow: the power of NOT planning.
The flipside of being prepared is to know when NOT to plan. If you set your sights on the ONE THING you want to do during a major event like the Olympics, and you miss that, you turn a good time into a bad time and miss everything else around you. As spectators, we were surrounded by things to do CONSTANTLY, but we soon found out that there was a monstrous queue almost everywhere.
Sometimes you will arrive somewhere and the situation is not as you expected. Don't feel bad about ditching that scene and finding something more enjoyable. I personally hate waiting in queue, so I didn't. I just wandered around ducking into places that DIDN'T have queues.
In the end I waited no more than 40 minutes for anything, and I got inside many pavilions. We even stumbled upon many things that we had NO IDEA were happening!
Collect information obsessively but don't obsess over it. Make decisions quickly, don't dwell on what may have been. You can't possibly plan for everything, sometimes you need to think on your feet and improvise. Focus on enjoying whatever is happening, wherever you are.
3) Know Your "Survival Mode"
As I mentioned, I was able to get to work on time every day, and the Olympics were not nearly the logistical nightmare we all feared. It was, however, a huge mental and emotional disruption that I didn't expect. There was always something amazing going on, and I felt like I was always "missing" something. My sleeping disorder got out of my control, and it made working very difficult.
But because I was clear on my personal priorities, I was able to slip into "Survival Mode". Eat. Go to Work. Enjoy the Olympics. Draw Wasted Talent. I dropped EVERYTHING ELSE. I didn't cook, work out, or do my regularly scheduled chores for two weeks. I didn't even try, instead opting to relax and recharge during every spare moment I could find. I let my email pile up a bit. I dropped all my auxillary projects and goals. I refused to let myself feel guilty for that - this was a ONCE IN A LIFETIME experience. It was only for two weeks, and I'm already beginning to climb back on top of things.
4) Just smile.
Okay, so there was a queue for EVERYTHING related to the Olympics in the city, and it was a bit more challenging than usual getting around. I told myself just to smile: If there weren't lines and noise, the event would be a failure, not a success. Without all the people everywhere it wouldn't be a PARTY!
5) You get what you expect.
Expectations make a HUGE difference. If you go into something expecting it will suck, you will only see the negatives. Expect something to be awesome and you will see the positives. Some of my friends just would NOT LET GO of their negativity. The crowds. The noise. The money that was spent. The headliners were never "cool" enough.
Haters will Hate. Haters miss out.
None of their negativity changed the facts. Their criticism will not change the headliners. Like it or not, the Olympics were HERE, and they were only here for two weeks out of ALL TIME- they are never coming back! Sure it cost a TON of money, but it was already spent and gone - that's why I made for damn sure I went out and enjoyed every penny's worth!!!
6) Cheer.
Maybe it's dorky to get all dressed up in white and red and wave a flag, and spontaneously break out into choruses of O Canada... but dammit, cheering is fun. It gets you invested in what is happening, it passes the time. It connects you to others.
It doesn't even matter who you're cheering for. Without the Americans and Swedes and everyone else waving THEIR flags, what's the point!
At one point Trevor and I found ourselves at a hockey game: Norway vs. Slovakia. Trevor was depressed that we didn't get to see Canada, but I decided to instead pour my heart into cheering for the underdogs: Norway. (My great grandfather was Norweigan - good enough!) Even though Norway lost, I had a blast cheering for them.
7) CHILL OUT.
On the morning of the second Saturday, I was waiting for a drugstore to open alongside an old man. The doors were glass, and we could see the employees getting ready and setting everything up. I was just waiting contently, reading some emails on my phone, I knew they were getting ready as fast as procedures would allow.
The old man was LIVID. He was banging on the glass, screaming his head off at the employees for being incompetent. When they finally opened up, he ran to the ATM. That was all he needed! (He couldn't walk two blocks down to another??)
The planners, volunteers and employees are doing their best. They are not acting to spite you. The front line folk are never the ones who made the decisions, and every decision was made for a reason.
Take a moment and remember what really matters.
8 ) The power of having a good network.
During the Olympics I had a pipeline of valuable information: What venues were cool, what were not. Where to get certain types of merchandise, where it was sold out all the time. How early to get somewhere. Having people to wait in line for us a bit earlier and meeting them. None of this information was "publicly" available.
This is the power of having a good network.
Let your friends and colleagues know what you're looking for, SHARE what you have and know generously and you will be amazed with what information comes out of the woodwork.
Talk to the people. Ask the people at the front of the line how long they've been waiting, ask the people coming out what was inside. The Olympics were an epic "collective icebreaker", and I got some really key info from complete strangers.
In the end, the Olympics came and went and the city is peeling off the decorations and returning to normal, for better or for worse. It kind of feels like the day after Christmas, but I'm proud of what our city has accomplished. I had a blast, and I leave February with no regret, I know I've made memories that will last a lifetime and I have lots of stories to tell.
That's all that matters.