Everyone wants what the leading teams have - those game-changing data insights. The ball speed analytics. The injury predictions. The performance patterns.

"Can we get this for this season?"

That's when I know they've already lost.

Netflix discovered something about data that sports is still learning. Value doesn't come from having data. It comes from the compound interest of commitment. Netflix played a decade-long game while Blockbuster chased quarterly trends.

The pattern across sports is predictable. Someone sees what another team is doing. Hears through the grapevine about a competitor's edge. Reads an article about the latest breakthrough. Gets excited. Champions it as "transformational."

By next season? That dashboard is gathering dust while they chase the next shiny thing.

Take ball speeds. Sounds simple, right?

Except today's numbers are worthless alone. You need pre-injury baselines. Growth cycles. Format variations. Years of context that transform numbers into intelligence.

Amazon calls this "Day 1 thinking" - investing years before seeing returns. Most sports organisations are stuck in "Day 0" - wanting destinations without journeys.

Here's the uncomfortable truth: everyone agrees ball speed is critical. "Our biggest value-add." Then reality hits. "If we have to carry equipment to matches? Can't the analyst handle that?"

The non-negotiable becomes negotiable.

Smart data teams make the trade-off explicit upfront. They ask: "This requires 15 minutes setup per match. Still worth it?"

Most say no. Which is fine.

But then stop pretending you want elite insights.

Silicon Valley learned this decades ago. Every meaningful insight requires daily discipline. Validation processes. Maintenance commitment. Co-ownership, not consumption.

The organisations winning with data? They pick 2-3 initiatives. Commit for 2-3 years. Show up for check-ins. Do the unsexy work.

Everyone else wants the magic without the work.

Your Monday morning action?

Audit your data projects. Count the dusty dashboards. Then ask your team: "What three data initiatives would we sustain for three years?"

Not twenty. Three.

Make them pick. Make them commit. Make the effort explicit.

Because your data team can create competitive advantage. But only if your organisation commits first.

The question isn't whether you want game-changing insights. Everyone wants those.

The question is whether you'll do what others won't. Consistently. Patiently. For years.

Because in data, as in sport itself, there are no shortcuts to excellence.

Only the patient, consistent commitment to doing what others won't. Until compound interest delivers returns that seem, to outsiders, like magic.

But you'll know better. You'll know it was never magic.

It was work.

And it was worth it.