A Stunning Global Landmark
Nothing is more harmful to the service, than the neglect of discipline;
for that discipline, more than numbers gives one army superiority over another.
-George Washington (America’s first President
On the 8th of August 2008 the attention of the entire global community was focused on China as it unveiled the Beijing Olympics with a grandeur opening ceremony. At the center of this awesome occasion was a awe-inspiring stadium, which according to the New York Times embodies everything from China’s muscle-flexing nationalism to a new found cultural sophistication.1 The Herzog and DeMeuron’s Olympic Stadium, fondly referred to by some as the “Bird’s Nest” because of its innovative grid formation, is a feat of engineering, an aesthetic marvel, and an uber-green machine to boot.2 The £250 million Stadium, designed by Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, is comprised of an outer skeleton of 42,000 tons of steel making it to last for a century and withstand a force of eight magnitude earthquake.3 Being such an quaint and gleaming landmark, the stadium won the institute’s prestigious Lubetkin Prize – the international award given to the ‘most outstanding work of architecture’ outside the European Union by an RIBA member.4 A view at such a shimmering edifice depicts its intricate patterns and the difficulty the engineers might have faced in bringing the concept from the paper into realization. The stadium’s design shows an integration of myriad complex systems all rolled into such an aesthetically and conceptually simple but stunning object and thus exude an unthinkable ingenuity of mankind.5 For most people traveling to China, the Great Wall of China symbolizes the long and great Chinese history and cultural heritage, while the new stadium represents the modern and constantly changing side of the country.6
The Art of Discipline
An indispensable quality exhibited by the construction team, which unfortunately may be unnoticed but contributed significantly to such a tremendous success in the world of architecture was the culture of discipline; willingness to go through all the onerous processes of realizing their dreams irrespective of the challenges. Key among the challenges was how to make the ‘bird’s nest’ stand on its own feet? The large steel skeleton of the project weighed 42,000 tons, with the roof and the hanging parts around it accounting for 11,200 tons. To bear such a heavy load, 78 supporting structures were temporarily installed and distributed in different points under stress, i.e. 24 supporting structures along the outer circle, 24 in the middle circle and 30 in the inner circle.7It was therefore necessary to discharge all the supporting objects from a weight of 11,200 tons. The unloading process of the supporting structures was divided into seven steps and each step was conducted in the order of outer circle, middle circle, inner circle, middle circle and inner circle. 35 sub-steps are used to complete the whole process.8
HouZhaoxing, a leading expert in the construction of the 2008 Olympic projects, said tens of new technologies, involving design, materials, manufacturing, installation, monitoring and management areas were used in the process.9The constructors were that disciplined and determined to ensure that they achieved their goal thus making use of every technology available. ‘Discipline is doing what you really don't want to do, so that you can do what you really want to do. It's paying the price in the little things so that you can buy the bigger thing.’10Discipline makes you pay a price today and win the prize tomorrow.
Talent without Discipline
Mickey Mantle is one of the few endowed players in terms of talent in the history of American baseball. He was known as a great baseball slugger and was known as the fastest man in the major leagues.11 When he began his baseball career, he was probably the fastest man in the game. He was clocked making it to the first base in 2.9 seconds left handed drag bunt. And he could run the bases in an incredible 13 seconds. Yet, his speed was nothing compared to the power of his hitting. It's been said there were home run hitters, and then there was this man - in a league of his own.12
His talent was that extraordinary to the extent that In the 1950s and 1960s, Mickey Mantle's name was synonymous with baseball. By the age of 19 he had been called up to play for the New York Yankees. By the time he retired, Mantle had played more games as a Yankee than any other player, and had been named MVP of the American League three times. He still holds the all-time World Series records for home runs, runs scored, and runs batted in.13
Yet, in spite of his impressive accomplishments, experts believe Mickey Mantle never reached his potential. Most blame Mantle's chronic knee injuries for preventing him from doing more. But injuries weren't the root of the problem. What most people didn't know was that Mantle was a raging alcoholic. In assessing his career, he observe that he “never fulfilled what my dad had wanted [to be the greatest player who ever lived], and I should have.” Everybody tries to make the excuse that injuries shortened my career. Truth is, after I'd had a knee operation the doctors would give me rehab work to do, but I wouldn't do it. I'd be out drinking... I hurt my knees through the years, and I just thought they'd naturally come back. Everything has always come natural to me. I didn't work hard at it.14
Mickey Mantle had such a great talent, but never got to his full potential for his lack of discipline off the field. His potential was limited by the level of disciplined he exercised.
A New Mindset, Old Results
For many years, decades and even centuries, a major hurdle that stifled the progress of man from unearthing his full potentials proved to be his mindset. Mankind for ages has been limited by his thoughts. In James Allen’s book ‘As a Man Thinketh,’ he remarks that
All that a man achieves or fails to achieve is the direct result of his thought.”Fortunately, the unfolding of time has made possible the mutation of our thoughts and a shift in our paradigms – a mindset that propels us to be who God wants us to be. Amazingly, many are not able to achieve much even with a new and positive mindset. Some people are still stuck in their situation after a great deal of reorientation of their thinking. This is because they lack the discipline to go through the process of achieving.
Especially now, a considerable number of the youth in our part of the world have experienced a shift in our paradigms where our ingenuity have soared encouragingly. This is symptomatic of the wonderful personalities who have become impactful on the globe not only with their lives but also their teachings and books. Many have crossed the hurdle of humdrum thinking and average mindedness but seem to be deficient in the discipline required for achieving good results. How many times have we not thought of wonderful and brilliant ideas and left them on the shelves? How many times have we not made very important resolutions to better our life and failed to live by them? And again how many times have we not quit from achieving something we thought precious initially? These are obvious scenarios we may have either witnessed or fallen victim to, but do we ask ourselves why that is the case?
Synergizing Right Decisions with Discipline for Success
One of the books that have made significant impression on my life for the past few years is John C. Maxwell’s Today Matters. In this book, he shares tremendous wisdom on how we can make today a masterpiece for tomorrow’s success. He briefly communicates the essence of good decisions and discipline in making ‘today a masterpiece’ in pages 22 and 23 of the book.
I believe there are two ingredients necessary to make every day a masterpiece: decisions and discipline. They are like two sides of the same coin; you could call them “goal setting” and “goal getting.” And they can’t be separated because one is worthless without the other. I say that because…
Good Decisions – Daily Discipline = A plan without a Payoff
Daily Discipline – Good Decisions = Regimentation without Reward
Good Decisions + Daily Discipline = A Masterpiece of Potential15
Decision making is a critical issue in the life of every individual, a doctor, a lawyer, a politician, an entrepreneur or a student. It is of the essence since it gets us started on the journey of success. However, what should be given much attention is how we manage these decisions. This is where discipline comes in. Decision helps us start but what helps us finish is discipline. It is not the decisions that make us successful but how through discipline we achieve the things we hoped to. The culture of discipline is a way of life that enables us to relive our decisions each and every day. It is significant to the journey of achieving success in whichever activity we may be involved in as it gradually keeps
focused and committed. Discipline coupled with commitment helps us attain desired results. When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great performance.16
The neglect of discipline in either an organization or an individual’s life is perilous and puts their future into disarray. It is true that today’s discipline helps bring the excellence of what is over and above the expectation by sustaining us on the journey to achieving whatever one wills. The culture of discipline is always indispensable to preparing ourselves for the success of tomorrow.
In their book 100 Ways to Motivate Others, Steve chandler and Scott Richardson, state that discipline is like a language and since anybody can learn any language then anybody can be disciplined also. Many have done it and have succeeded, so also can you.
FOOTNOTES/FURTHER READING
1. Nicolai Ouroussoff, “Olympic Stadium with a Design to Remember,” New York Times, August 5, 2008,http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/05/sports/olympics/05nest.html (accessed January4, 2011).
2. Emily Pilloton, Beijing’s Olympic Stadium by Herzog and DeMeuron, July 3, 2007,http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/03/07/beijings-olympic-stadium-by-herzog-and-demeuron(accessed January7, 2011)
3. Gordon Rayner,Beijing Olympics: The Bird's Nest stadium, August 7, 2008,http://www.telegrah.co.uk/.../Beijing_Olympics_The-Birds-Nest-Stadium.html (accessed January 6, 2011).
4. Richard Waite, “Beijing 'bird's nest' stadium wins coveted Lubetkin Prize,” Architects Journal, July 15, 2009, http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/...birds-nest-stadium.../5205134.article (accessed January 6, 2011).
5. Emily Pilloton, Beijing’s Olympic Stadium by Herzog and DeMeuron, July 3, 2007,http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/03/07/beijings-olympic-stadium-by-herzog-and-demeuron (accessed January7, 2011)
6. Vytautas Kraujalis, Bird's Nest Stadium: A symbol of Beijing, February 19, 2010, http://www.en.radio86.com/travel-destinaions/list (accessed January 6, 2011)
7. The Beijing Organizing Committee, How does the 'bird's nest' stand on its own feet? September 17, 2006, http://www.enbeijing2008.cn/80/33/article212043837.shtml (accessed January 9, 2011)
8. The Beijing Organizing Committee, The steel skeleton of the 'Bird's Nest' to fall by no more 30cm, September 17, 2006, http://www.enbeijing2008.cn/80/33/article212044444.shtml(accessed January 9, 2011)
9. The Beijing Organizing Committee, New technologies used in unloading of National Stadium's supporting structures, September 17, 2006, http://www.enbeijing2008.cn/80/33/article212044242.shtml (accessed January 9, 2011)
10. John Maxwell, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow them and People will Follow You, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1998), (accessed January11, 2011)
11. Mickey's Mantle of Faith, October 19, 2006,http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52498(accessed January 11, 2011)
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