Golf and the Second Curve

After an exciting weekend of golf during the British Open, it's important to reflect on what veteran player Tom Watson has to say about the state of the game:

"Golf is expensive, it is slow and takes too long to play, and it is a hard game to learn."

Some 400,000 players quit golf in 2013 in the U.S.  In the U.K., club membership dropped by nearly a quarter between 2004 and 2014.

Golf is under threat like many individuals and institutions in the world.  Many have "First Curve" problems - - they are having problems managing their downslope.  Everything and every person experiences the First Curve.  A period of growth, and in most cases exponential growth, a period of peaking and finally a period of decline.  Governments have First Curve problems (our Congress and inability to work together), schools have First Curve problems (the decline in our global educational standing), individuals have First Curve problems (the transition from manual manufacturing to robotic manufacturing), our economic competitiveness has First Curve problems (the scale and scope of our infrastructure decay), etc.  A core problem we all face is the management of the First Curve and the transition to the Second Curve.

It's important that people and institutions rethink their First Curve - especially during the range of peaking.  This is the point where adjustments can be made - think in terms of a Second Curve and continued growth.

Don't think Second Curve during the First Curve decline phase.  It will be too late.