Michael Phelps

[Dave Guerra]

What can we learn from this Black Swan? He is not only a Superperformer. He is an Superperformance outlier. He is the best in class.

[Mark Prasatik]

One of the things I noted about Phelps is his single mindedness. In an interview he said that he mostly just eats, sleeps and trains. I agree that his abilities make him an outlier in superperformance however I'm not sure that he is a Black Swan as defined by NNT since his performance was both predicted and consistent. I think he is an exceptional member of mediocristan.

What can we learn? Is it better to be the hedgehog or the fox? Jim Collins say the hedgehog always wins.

[Dave Guerra]

Mark, do you think Michel Phelps was predicted to be perhaps the greatest Olympic Athlete that Ever Was?

I would call his performance at least SOMEWHAT surprising!!!

I completely agree with you re Michael Phelps single mindedness.

Absolutely this seems the "Mark" of a Superperformer.

Dave

[Mark Prasatik]

Well the media was hyping the fact (and has been) of a possibility of 8 gold medals and breaking Mark Spitz's record months before the event. Speedo even offered a 1 million dollar bonus if he broke the record of 8 gold medals so his performance was at least foreseen if not predicted.

I could even argue that it would that it would be more of a black swan had he not broken the record since that is what many people expected. Just a contrarian thought.

Mark

Dave Guerra said:

Mark, do you think Michel Phelps was predicted to be perhaps the greatest Olympic Athlete that Ever Was?

I would call his performance at least SOMEWHAT surprising!!!

I completely agree with you re Michael Phelps single mindedness.

Absolutely this seems the "Mark" of a Superperformer.

Dave

[Ricardo Andorinho]

Dear Dave,

Phelps is like Nadal or like Jagger or like Bird or like Schumacher.

Answering your questions
- I think he was predicting this since the day he prove himself that in this Olympics he might have the chance.

- The person who was less surprised was Michael Phelps. He is the only person in the world that lived the preparation that allowed him to succeed in Beijing.

-I agree with Mark somehow.

Best regards,
Ricardo Andorinho

[John Gore]

Phelps performed superbly at the Olymics. He has hinted at a 2012 Olympic return. He seems a great guy, will be in demand for media and ad contracts worth millions. What can we predict based on his "single mindedness" for future success. Mark Spitz is a dentist today, and apparently a good one. I think he always said he would be fininshing dental school at the same time he was winning 7 gold metals. we have Lance Armsrong, Bret Farve, Michael Johnson returning from retirement, to be superperformers again? Obviously Mark used his drive to succed in a different venue. So far i have heard nothing about Michels plans for the future. Getting old sucks, I've had to reinvent myself. From a Superperformance perspective, how would one consult with a high performer who needs to make a carrer change?

Ricardo Andorinho said:

Dear Dave,

Phelps is like Nadal or like Jagger or like Bird or like Schumacher.

Answering your questions
- I think he was predicting this since the day he prove himself that in this Olympics he might have the chance.

- The person who was less surprised was Michael Phelps. He is the only person in the world that lived the preparation that allowed him to succeed in Beijing.

-I agree with Mark somehow.

Best regards,
Ricardo Andorinho

[Dave Guerra]

John that is a really important question for all of us Baby Boomers.

I know Seabiscuit came back after "he was all washed up" and won the famous Santa Anita "Hundred Grander" in what sportswriters described as the greatest comeback in sports history.

Hold tight I am going to send you a link to some great research in this area.

Cheers,

Dave