Jiu Jitsu and the customer journey, what are the similarities?

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12 years ago, I chose to live the philosophy of JiuJitsu, a Japanese martial art that here in Brazil was adapted by a young man, the skinniest of his brothers, who adapted lever strikes so that the difference in strength was neutralized by the technique. This young man was Hélio Gracie.

All this happened in the beginning of the 20th century and today there are countless academies spread all over Brazil and the world. Here in Brazil, hardly any city or neighborhood does not have a Jiu Jitsu academy with its teachings of self defense and, above all, a life style where technique overrides strength, where the weaker one, by first dominating himself, can dominate his opponent, even if at a disadvantage in strength and weight.

My journey into this sport began when I was looking to lose weight and have better physical fitness. Little did I know that I would find myself in a philosophy of life that I would adapt to so much that I would never be able to live away from.

Today, having graduated as a black belt two years ago, I look back and I can see each point of this journey very closely linked to the corporate world and to my experience at the head of the Services area of ULMA Handling Systems Latam, and I would like to make a connection between these two worlds which are so close.

The final goal is important, but the journey is fundamental. No matter what your goal is, whether it's to compete or just to improve your lifestyle, you will need to dedicate time, effort and discipline so that you can evolve every day. Therefore, it is important to be with people who share your goal and can contribute to your continuous improvement.

In customer service it also needs to be like this: the objectives are very diverse, the degrees of knowledge and evolution of each one is different, and together, client and supplier, can and should share experiences so that their projects have symbiosis and so that they can reach the same objective.

 

Always count with the help of a "Black Belt", an expert in the subject. Nowadays it is common for gyms to have black belts, but 12 years ago it wasn't like that, they were rare and when one showed up to train, we ran to absorb the maximum of his experience in training.

With time and the evolution of the sport, numerous specialists appeared on the market, but as the supply increased, the quality is not always the same. That's why it's so important to look for the right professional, referenced, with a team history that you can know the origin and if you are having contact with genuine Jiu Jitsu.

In the customer journey it is no different: the barriers of entry to markets, in general, are getting lower and lower and it is common for companies with different levels of knowledge to be in the market and deliver different levels of solution.

This is why it is also very important that in the customer-supplier relationship, the customer always looks for companies that are specialists in the solution, those that can share the expertise of their core business and contribute to you achieving your excellence, being able to benefit from the expertise of those who are already a "black belt" in the subject.

Keep training, update your skills, keep moving. If there's one thing that everyone who trains Jiu Jistu knows, it's that although technique is one of the main factors in a fight, conditioning, the famous "gas", is also an important part when practicing. And there is no way: just like a marathon runner will not train Jiu Jitsu to run a marathon, a Jiu Jitsu fighter cannot only run to improve his sport. Running helps, but it doesn't solve it.

In a sport that is so popular today, with federations on all continents and championships with increasingly high prize pools, it is normal for positions to evolve, and it is necessary to be in constant motion, that is, always training, to be able to keep your gas up to date and updated on new positions so as not to be caught off guard.

This is how long-term relationships should be maintained. The client, even after the delivery of the project, needs to keep in constant motion, training as many times as necessary the operation team, updating the equipment so that they always keep their "gas" up to date and so that they can produce 100% of their technique all the time, reproduce and improve with each "training" until excellence, which is often updated when achieved. As a phrase written on the exit stairs of where I train says, "the secret of success is in the next training session!".

 

The Jiu Jitsu belts, what they represent and how they look like customer-supplier relationships. Something that impresses me a lot in the Jiu Jitsu world is the graduates. When talking about adults, there are five belts that are corresponding to their degree of advancement, which I like to sum up like this:

White Belt - Apprentice.

Blue Belt - Already had the opportunity to have contact with the techniques, is learning to master the basics.

Purple Belt - Can already dominate his own body, can already do the basics and can start learning some more advanced techniques.

Brown Belt - Close to learning what really matters.

Black Belt - Ready to begin learning what Jiu Jitsu is all about.

It may sound confusing, but an ancient martial art requires time for you to really understand what it means in your life, discipline, perseverance, sense of group, commitment.

The customer-supplier relationship is like that too. In each phase, a new learning, and with each new learning, an evolution. It is normal that at the beginning of a new project, each one brings previous experiences in other areas, but they are all learners.

Soon they will be able to understand their business and master it, then they start adding value to the basics that work and make it more and more differentiated. When they are already walking together and exchanging experiences, new techniques are developed according to the profile demanded for the moment, until they can evolve with long and lasting development journeys.

 

Jiu Jitsu is not an individual sport, nor is the client's journey. It's no use, there is no Jiu Jitsu fighter who has not trained and absorbed experience from a training partner, there is no world champion of any category who has not started with the basics, has overcome the graduation phases and has reached his goal. In Jiu Jistu, the day you lose is the day you learn the most.

I don't know any client who has evolved without having continually learned from the stones in his path. No matter how much training, dedication, passion and preparation there is, sometimes things don't turn out the way we want.

Then it's time to learn from your own mistakes, often details, in a high level competition, everyone is trained and details can be the differentiator that day.

Resilience, both in Jiu Jitsu and in the corporate world, is essential for constant evolution and will make you grow exponentially, as long as you know how to fall, get up and adjust your technique for the next fight!

Catches and mounts are worth 4 points.

Guard passes, worth 3 points.

Drops, scraping and knee to the abdomen, worth 2 points.

Finishing, in other words, solving the problem, overrides any and all points.

Oss!