HSI John Smith: We are literally trying to stop time

This article is from the April 2000 edition of Fast Company magazine. It’s a long read, over 8 pages, and over 3000 words!

Smith’s goes in detail into 5 clock-stopping rules for competing in a race where there is no speed limit.

To learn more on his philosophies, several of the Eurosport HSI videos are presented here.

… John Smith, 49, was once a renowned world-class runner. In 1971, as a member of the UCLA track team, he clocked 44.5 seconds in the 440-yard dash, setting a world record. More recently, in 1996, he cofounded HSI, an Irvine, California-based sports agency.

Smith is also the track world’s foremost teacher of speed. Greene, Drummond, and Boldon are three of his pupils. But they are not alone. His circle of speed demons also includes Inger Miller, the women’s 200-meter world champion; Marie-Jose Perec, the women’s 200- and 400-meter gold-medal winner in the 1996 Olympics; and Quincy Watts, the men’s 400-meter champ in the 1992 Olympics.

The lessons that Smith passes on to the world’s fastest runners have obvious implications for businesspeople who want to win a competitive race that’s measured in Internet time. To learn how fast companies — and the people who work for them — can move even faster, we caught up with Smith, who has embarked on a title fight with time itself. At stake is nothing less than his ambition to reinvent the way that the race is run, to shatter the physical and psychological barriers that prevent the world’s fastest sprinters from doing what they were born wanting to do — that is, to fly.

“What are we after? We are literally trying to stop time,” says Smith. “Running 100 meters in 10 seconds won’t bring you fame. But running it in 9.79 will. He who finishes closest to zero wins. Freeze the clock — that’s what we’re all about.”

For the full article, please go to www.fastcompany.com