Maria Sharapova shocked the tennis and sporting world this week. The five-time Grand Slam winner, 28, revealed on Monday that she tested positive for the drug medication meldonium in January.
Andy Murray was prompted to comment that she “must accept responsibility” for failing a drugs test and serve her ban. “Clearly if you are taking performance-enhancing drugs and you fail a drugs test, you have to get suspended,” said Murray, the world number two.
Russian Sharapova will be provisionally suspended from 12 March. The erstwhile world number one explained she has been taking the drug, which was added to he World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned list on 1 January, for health reasons for the past 10 years. She apparently forgot to click on an email link to see an updated list. She appears to have had no process in place for checking that this had been done.
There could be no clearer example for questioning those who think that something is alright “because we’ve always done that way”. The need to re-visit and always strive for continuous improvement in an area or process is vital for an organisation to move forwards.
Processes established when an organisation was originally founded may no longer be fit for purpose, and the Investors in Excellence Standard covers this specifically when it examines the effectiveness of Delivering what that organisation does.
When all parts of an operation are reviewed and made the best they can be, then that will be shown in Achieving truly excellent results. Even a sports player as excellent as Sharapova has been over the last decade, cannot afford to rely on the status quo being good enough for what is required for continued success.
Getting the detail right will surely serve up success every time.