I’ve always loved a little friendly competition—especially with myself.
Growing up, baseball was my game. These days, I get that same rush staying fit and chasing birdies on the golf course. And as a Penn State alum, few things beat the thrill of a whiteout game in Beaver Stadium.
Whether it’s the Super Bowl, March Madness, the Stanley Cup, or your kid’s “big game,” we live in a culture that celebrates the face-off. Even documentaries are getting in on it—profiling quarterbacks; F1 drivers; tennis champions; and, yes, even struggling soccer teams in Wales.
It’s no surprise that competition dominates how we approach business. We spend a lot of time analyzing what others are doing, whether it’s benchmarking, studying market moves, or trying to outpace the company down the street.
But a recent story about the Denver Museum of Nature and Science made me pause. During a routine geothermal drilling project beneath the museum’s parking lot, scientists made an incredible discovery: a 70-million-year-old dinosaur fossil. Not in the Rockies. Not in some dig site miles away. But in a core sample extracted from right under the museum’s own front yard.
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What if we spent less time obsessing over the competition and dug into what’s already right beneath our feet?
In the museum’s case, the fossil wasn’t flashy. It was just a small vertebra. But it opened up new insights about the region’s prehistoric ecosystem. It proved that even the most familiar ground can hold powerful discoveries if you’re willing to look.
What if we applied that mindset to our own organizations?
Before we chase the next big trend or react to what the competition is doing, maybe we should ask a few deeper questions:
- What conversations aren’t we having?
- Whose feedback is going unvoiced?
- What capabilities are sitting just beneath the surface, waiting to be tapped?
- What strengths or competitive edge should we leverage?
You don’t need a backhoe. Sometimes all it takes is a core sample—a team check-in, a customer roundtable, or a one-on-one with someone who hasn’t had the spotlight yet.
We often assume innovation comes from outside: new tools, new hires, and new markets. But what if your next breakthrough is already in the room? What if the insight you’ve been chasing is parked right under your nose?
The best leaders know when to scan the horizon and when to dig inward. The Denver Museum was looking for energy efficiency, not fossils. But it found something remarkable because the museum was curious, observant, and open to discovery. So, before you spend more time studying your rivals, take a good look at your own “parking lot.” And who knows? Your next big discovery might not just help you compete. It might redefine the game entirely.
