687: US Open Medalist on Principles to Succeed at Any Table in Business, Sports, and Life (Strategy Skills classics)

The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving

In this episode, host Krista Farova interviews Justin Buki, author of 'Ping Pong Leadership,' about applying competitive table tennis princi

Key takeaways

• Justin Bines uses 'Pong Principles' to bridge the gap between athletic discipline and corporate leadership.
• Recognizing and adjusting to the 'rhythm' of clients or partners can significantly reduce project delays and friction.

Main topics

• Ping Pong Leadership principles
• Business rhythm and adaptability

Notable quotes

The mind doesn't know the difference between a huge challenge at the ping pong table or a huge challenge at a breakout room table.

Conclusion

The episode offers a unique perspective on how specialized athletic me

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:02) And when there is no vision, the Speaker 3 (0:04) people perish. Speaker 2 (0:05) We choose to go to the moon. Speaker 3 (0:08) If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today? Change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been Speaker 1 (0:27) waiting for. Speaker 3 (0:28) Welcome to the Strategy Skills Podcast, where strategy partners teach you the tools and techniques to solve mankind's greatest problems. Speaker 1 (0:45) Hello, this is Krista Farova. Welcome to another episode of the Strategy Skills Podcast. Our podcast sponsor today is strategytraining.com. If you want to strengthen your strategy skills, you can get the overall approach used in well-managed strategy studies. It is a free download. Go to firmsconsulting.com forward slash overall approach. It is F-I-R-M-S consulting.com forward slash overall approach. And if you're currently updating your resume, polishing it up, You can get McKinsey and BCG winning resume, also a free download. You can get it at firmsconsulting.com forward slash resume PDF. And today we are speaking with Justin Buki. Justin is a former lawyer and award-winning marketing strategist and global pinpoint player who won medals at the US Open and the US National Championships. He also earned Emmy nominations for feature documentaries he produced. and Telly, Vidi, and Eddie Awards for Digital Marketing Campaigns. Justin, welcome. Speaker 2 (1:48) Thank you, Chris. It's nice to be here. Speaker 1 (1:49) Such an interesting, exciting career. So maybe we could start briefly with your journey, and then we will go right into the leadership lessons from your recent book. Speaker 2 (2:00) Sure thing. I practiced communications law for several years in Washington, D.C., and then this was in the 90s when... Internet Web 1.0 was taking off and I saw a lot of really fascinating opportunities there. So I kind of transitioned into that side of the industry and had a real amazing ride through content strategy, UI, brand strategy, helping companies really embrace this new age of digital communications and did a lot of consulting in that area. worked with a lot of, I was in-house at a lot of large digital agencies and had a chance to work with some really amazing leaders. And that's where I found a lot of insights into how pioneers in different industries really forge their way and really have some great success doing things in a lot of unique ways. What Speaker 1 (3:04) were some of the most unexpected, mind-blowing insights for you from those days? Speaker 2 (3:10) From those days? I think as someone who had practiced law, that's an industry where there are many established routes and channels to accomplish your goals, established habits and best practices, and in fact, very rigid standards in many ways. Speaker 2 (3:33) At the onset of internet development, as content started to explode online, it was a free-for-all. And it was fascinating that you could really create your own rules as you went along. I mean, there were copyright issues, other intellectual property issues, but in terms of really staking your claim to what was going to be successful, no one had a really clear roadmap. And so I had to adjust my thinking. And one major breakthrough insight was just watching some of these creators, business creators, entrepreneurs, do things that just seemed so outlandish. And the way they would run a company. that ended up really paying big dividends without any blueprint. They were flying by the seat of their pants. Obviously, these were smart people, and they think they had a roadmap internally. It wasn't always evident. And so I just kind of enjoyed watching people who would start a company like Rotten Tomatoes. I do talk about that in my book, Patrick Lee, who started that with help. as a side business that was totally separate from his core web consultancy. And they just saw that take off, you know, movie reviews. They liked watching Kung Fu movies and they just happened to have some reviews about these Kung Fu movies as they started to roll out. Cause they couldn't find reviews very easily in those days, but you know, pre broad internet and it just took off and they, they really went all in. And the way they ran that company took a lot of risks and it took a lot of innovative U-turns. And they had to get a whole different kind of set of staffing and a whole different way of investing and talking to investors. Anyway, that was kind of eye-opening, just seeing those kind of examples of how you just walk over the crest of a hill without seeing the other side with sometimes blind faith. And that can really pay off. Not all the time, but you have to be willing to at least. climb up that hill and see what's on the other side. And then maybe it will pay off. That was, I think that was just inspiring and eye-opening for me. Speaker 1 (6:01) When do you think was the period of your life, and maybe it is now, when you felt you were growing at the highest rate? Speaker 2 (6:09) You know, it goes in spurts. I think I've had periods recently in my life, and certainly as a kid. Speaker 2 (6:17) When I moved to Los Angeles and I was able to secure a much higher level coach for table tennis, for example, I've been playing table tennis, ping pong, otherwise known as ping pong, since I was age six. Speaker 2 (6:36) When I found this coach, all of a sudden that was a new spurt of development for me because I had had decent training, but nothing like this. She's an Olympian. She's a world-class coach. And when you encounter that kind of resource, it was like just, it was rocket fuel for my discipline, my understanding of the sport and my technique. So that was definitely a spurt. And then every time, say, I joined a new position, a new job, there's always that spurt of development. Sometimes it can be jarring, but it can be thrilling because you're forced to perform in a very different way. Right. I worked at XPRIZE for a while and got to work with Peter Diamandis, the founder of XPRIZE. And they're doing fascinating projects that are really unconventional. They're not what you encounter usually in a law firm or a digital agency or a consultancy. Because they're doing these global community-based challenges that have huge impacts, whether it's carbon capture or space travel. rainforest maintenance, whatever. Speaker 2 (7:53) You can't help but just learn massive amounts and you have to perform at a different velocity in order to really keep up with an organization like that. So that was a spurt as well. Speaker 1 (8:06) Do you remember the moment, the defining moment when you decided to write the book that you just wrote and published? Speaker 2 (8:13) There was one moment. I mean, the background is my whole life, I've had kind of parallel lives. Speaker 2 (8:23) I studied hard in school. That was important for my parents and my family that we do well in school. Okay. So I studied hard and tried to live up to my three older sisters standards. They were very smart. Speaker 2 (8:37) And I would come home to school and play table tennis or ping pong. Law school, college and law school. And even as a lawyer, I would work hard and have long hours maybe. But on the weekends or late at night, I would play. And I would play competitively. But they never really mixed. And then I remember one day. Years ago, I had a meeting, a presentation at work, and I'm walking down the hall with one of my colleagues. And I just did this kind of this certain stance I take and breath I take before I enter the table area at a competition. And it's very table tennis related, very athletic related. I didn't even think about it. And my, my buddy, my work buddy says, what, what was that? What did you just do? And I didn't even think about it. Oh yeah. Don't worry about it. We're good. And I realized I was using this mind frame. Speaker 2 (9:42) basically get in the moment technique, snap myself in the moment that I use in table tennis at work and had exactly the same function. It just snapped me into, here's what we got to do. I better be focused. I got to bring my A game. And that was an aha moment for me. It's like, wow, there is no division here because the mind doesn't know the difference between a huge challenge at the ping pong table or a huge challenge at a breakout room table, negotiating table. It's the same chemicals in your head about alertness and fight or flight and high performance, right? So that was an aha moment. It's like, wow, I... I have a whole range of skills here and a very different range of skills here, workplace versus table tennis. And yet there is a lot of bridging I can do between those to benefit each. Yeah. So that was part of the genesis for even writing the book because I realized, wow, there's so many overlapping principles. Speaker 1 (10:49) 100%. We only have one brain, so it is exposed to everything and takes into account everything we know and do. Can you share with us this get in the moment technique? Because otherwise everyone will be wondering what it is. Speaker 2 (11:01) You know, we all have different ones. So mine will not be magic for anybody, but it's just a certain way I straighten up. thrust my hands out and breathe, head forward. And just, it's a way of tightening and straightening my body. Now that's irrelevant if it doesn't work for you. I was talking with John Foley, who was a former Blue Angels pilot, the performance Jet Flight. team pilot. And we talked about different rituals they all go through to snap themselves into ready position or ready frame of mind. He had a football player friend where every time he jogged onto the field right before the game, he would snap his helmet onto his chin. And that's when it really tightly secures your helmet. Click. And he always did it at the same moment when he crossed the goal line heading onto the field. That physical ritual. Speaker 2 (11:59) taps into your mental frame of mind and you can't help it if you do it over and over again at the