Quick…what comes to mind when you hear the word ‘archery’? Chances are that one of two images came to mind – either something related to Robin Hood, or someone standing in a field with a complicated-looking bow, slowly and methodically firing arrows at a static target. Unless you’ve seen it before, I doubt you were thinking about Lars Andersen. Here he is in action.
Most people who’ve seen that are very impressed – most that is apart from serious archers of the complicated-bow-variety who have been breaking their collective neck to get online to ‘debunk’ Andersen…he’s not a proper archer, he couldn’t shoot accurately at a target in a field, there must have been hundreds of out-takes, the commentary on the video was inaccurate and miss-leading. If you see the vitriol poured down on Andersen from the ‘archery community’ you might suspect that he had sneaked into their lair in the night and crapped in their quivers.
So why the pummelling?
Well I don’t know for sure, but I suspect it’s because Andersen has done something which serious archers have universally failed to do since the invention of the bow and arrow – he has made archery interesting and accessible to a wide audience. As I write this over twenty six million people have watched this video on Youtube since the middle of January. That’s just three weeks! I’d be surprised if twenty six million people have watched even part of an archery competition in the entire history of the sport.
To put it simply, these archers are jealous of the attention that Andersen has received, and they are fighting back by denigrating what he does. And in a way, their reaction is understandable.
If you’ve worked hard to get good at what you do, and then see someone you perceive to be inferior coming along and picking up the rewards and plaudits that have evaded you, that has to be annoying. But what these archers have failed to understand is this…
They may be doing the thing right, but Andersen is doing the right thing if the goal is attract attention and interest beyond a narrow interest group niche.
If you want to be a champion archer, the right thing is to practice diligently at one particular skill – firing arrows into a fixed target at a fixed distance. And you need to do that thing right. But if you want to entertain people, fire their imagination and garner the rewards that flow from that, the ‘right thing’ is somewhat different. Andersen probably doesn’t do the thing right, but he does do the right thing for what he’s hoping to achieve.
Those archers are in a bit of a dilemma, they’re doing the thing right…archery… and want the world to accept that it’s the right thing. But to get the attention and admiration of the world, it isn’t. The world wants to be engaged and entertained; it doesn’t want to be bored. And so archery continues to bump along as a minority sport enjoyed by enthusiasts but ignored by the majority.
Is it any surprise that an ‘unskilled upstart’ creating a worldwide sensation caused a chorus of disapproval?
Now archers are in no way unusual (a bit odd maybe, but not unusual!) and you’ll see this sort of thing in all walks of life when you start to look for it…serious writers criticising lightweight junk fiction authors who outsell them a hundred to one, highly skilled musicians who pour scorn on the pop sensations making millions while they survive on a pittance…weightlifters lambasting showmen who use everyday objects to make strength accessible and understandable to the man in the street. And of course you see business owners reigning fury on their competitors who they perceive to offer inferior products, but who are prospering because they’re giving the market what it wants.
And that’s the main point I want to make here…
If the world isn’t favouring what you do and what you offer, it’s not the world’s fault. That’s just how it is. You may be doing the thing right in your eyes, but you’re probably not doing the right thing because it’s not what the market understands, appreciates or indeed, wants. And so you have a choice…
You can rage at the world and implore it to change, or you can reflect on what you’re offering and change that instead. Choose the former and you will lose, select the latter and you have at least a chance to win.
When you look at it like that, it’s no choice at all really, is it?
“If the world isn’t favouring what you do and what you offer, it’s not the world’s fault”
A world class marketing lesson right there John.
One of my mentors was fond of saying – “If the customer hasn’t understood their need for your offering, who should go back to school?”
Well said John,
The only comment I would add (to be honest I wasn’t aware of the (IMHO) childish vitriol that’s been poured over Lars) as an Archery fan AND having seen the Lar’s video – is that any one pouring scorn is just behaving like a spoilt child, for Lar’s to make the video look as good as he does – he must have some degree of skill, probably a lot higher than the nay sayers, to Lar’s, archery is obviously a passion and he must have devoted countless hours of INTELLIGENT research backed up with REFLECTIVE practice, rather than just being a sheep and blindly putting in countless hours – here is a true example of working smarter not harder and not being afraid to question “conventional wisdom”.
In the martial arts world – Bruce Lee faced a lot of the same negativity when he decided just because “we’ve always done it this way – doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the best way…”
Bringing my comment back to something more topical – it also seems remarkably similar to the scorn that a lot of “proper authors” and wannabe’s aim at the 50 Shades books – denigrating them for the quality of the writing or complaining the story is crap, or simply just porn or something that “normal people” wouldn’t / shouldn’t like, like you said – jealousy.
It’s such a shame that people who aren’t afraid to try something different, push the boundaries, follow their gut instincts and then reap the rewards are vilified – most probably because watching someone else succeed is a slap in the face for those that are not actually prepared to put in the hard work that’s required.
Geoff Thompson has a really fascinating article about this (and explains it a lot better than me)
http://www.geoffthompsoninspired.com/catching-crabs/
Yes, you’re right about Bruce Lee. That’s an excellent example of the same thing I should have thought of.
One of the guys having a real ‘pop’ at Andersen claimed to be a National archery champion. Here’s another critique from an archery instructor who I suspect may have too much time on his hands:
http://geekdad.com/2015/01/danish-archer/
Two sound-bites come to my mind John whilst reading you excellent (as usual) observation on life.
I think it was Napoleon Hill who said,
“if knowledge is power, every university professor will be exceedingly rich.”
The second is a principle that has stood me in good stead in my own business for more than 30 years
When I first started work in the building industry, my boss said to me you must always give the customer what they ask for, forget what you think they need. If they ask for carpets up the walls, don’t say its not practical; just give them a carpet catalogue.
Excellent post. There are countless examples of what you describe that I could point to. As well as Bruce Lee, Slash from Guns N Roses is another case in point. Lots of guitarists like to criticize Slash for his technical limitations, and his loose live playing style. However, he has composed some of the most memorable guitar riffs ever, and achieved a level of success that most musicians can only dream of.
I used to be one of those people who raged at the world and implored it to change, however I learned to accept the futility of doing this. Unfortunately, in the UK, it seems to be part of the culture to resent those who try to think independently and achieve success on their own terms. I have also been on the receiving end of such resentment myself. Interestingly, this is not the case so much in the US, where everyone is brought up to believe that they could be president.
Only one quote from me;
” Guitars are on there way out, Brian”
…..laughing all the way to the bank springs to mind!! Good on them!