London 2012 – Final thoughts

London 2012, by all accounts, has delivered what it promised in terms of a memorable Olympic Games that caught the attention of the world.  The opening and closing ceremonies said something about us British in a way that probably hasn’t been said before, which might just have been a defining moment, and instead of forever looking back to when we were a world power, we can accept that we have confidence in our current role, our abilities and our quirky humour.  A couple of examples from the press: International Business Times; The Guardian

To be involved in the Games was very special, and unforgettable, although I must acknowledge that mine was a back-office role.  There were a lot of GamesMakers with ‘customer-facing’ roles that earned almost universal praise for their tireless enthusiasm and good humour in dealing with the public.  Nevertheless, the number of conversations I had with total strangers whilst travelling to and from Wembley demonstrated that when we share a common interest, we’re not as withdrawn, unapproachable or arrogant as we are sometimes considered to be.  Amongst the many articles that contained reference to the GamesMakers’ role, the most significant, in my opinion, appeared in the Harvard Business Review, and gave some consideration to the prospect of the ‘Olympic Spirit’ being a model for workplace culture.  Well, we can dream!  I suspect it won’t work out that way.

At the time of writing, it is only 4 days since the closing ceremony and already the Olympics is becoming a political football.  Before the Games, it was commercialism; during the Games it was sport; after the Games it is politics.  The Paralympics will bring some respite, but as many people have expressed,  the success of the event and the success of Team GB should bring about a major shift in the way in which we deal with sport, exercise and healthy lifestyles.  I just have that horrible feeling that in a few weeks time it will be back to normal; fast food, binge drinking, reality TV, Z-List Celebrity trivia.  Olympic Games?  Yea, I remember that; we won a few medals didn’t we?

Oh, by the way, the new football season starts on Saturday.