How to Create Value Through Resourcefulness
In May, 2021 I completed my TRX Qualified Coach certification. Perhaps you saw my post where I shared my certificate of completion. In my original post, I mentioned the main reason I took the class was for self-development. Looking back, though, I missed the real reason: RESOURCEFULNESS.
Sherrie Campbell, author at Entrepreneur shared in her article, “Resourcefulness is having the mindset to look at what’s in front of you and to optimize what you have to work with.
Being imaginative is not always about creating something new, but also, with a little ingenuity making old things work better. Reach far into the depths of your mind and come up with outlandish possibilities as well as practical ones.
Allow your mind to wander. Never stop your creative process, as you may talk yourself out of a great idea. Creative thoughts quickly move you from one idea to another and to another. One of those ideas may bear the fruits of a genius idea or solution.”
At the start of the lockdown, everything, including fitness centers, was closed. Giving up exercise wasn’t an option for me as it is firmly rooted in my personal wellness, so I started running. The act of running quickly became a chore rather than enjoyment even with 80’s music blasting in my ears.
I turned to YouTube videos demonstrating how playground equipment could be used for strength training; however, there wasn’t much variety. The weather was in the 20’s at the time and my hands would freeze to the monkey bars. I was running out of ideas.
The name Randy Hetrick may be foreign to you; however, his name is as synonymous with fitness as it is with business. Hetrick is the inventor of TRX (Total Body Resistance Exercise System). If you have seen those black and yellow straps anchored to a frame or ceiling at a gym, that’s TRX.
In 1997, Randy Hetrick, Commander of his SEAL’s elite special unit was deployed in Southeast Asia. One aspect about SEALs is that they must maintain top physical shape at all times despite being deployed in places with limited possibility of training equipment. Hetrick shared [one of many versions] of the TRX story in an interview with Marin Magazine.
One day while waiting for a mission to carry out, Randy grabbed a Jiu Jitsu strap tucked away in his suitcase to make a harness. He tied a knot in the belt, threw it over a bathroom door, leaned backwards… and pondered, “What if I Iift my weight, then hoist it and then re-tie the knot in the middle to hang onto with both sides?”
After first enduring some heckling from his squadron mates, soon, one by one, they wanted to try this “crazy harness”. Low and behold, it started catching on. “Hey Boss! Make me one of your gizmos!” His buddy, a parachute rigger, basically a navy seamstress who liked to drink beer, helped Randy make more straps in exchange for a case of beer.
Suddenly, these hard-core guys thought these crazy straps were pretty cool. All the while, Randy never thought of this as a business, even though he and his squadron continued to train “like beasts” with his straps.
After 14 years in the military, Randy Hetrick resigned his commission in the Navy to complete his MBA at Stanford University. He had no intention of creating the TRX empire.
While he was training at the student fitness center, Hetrick caught the eye of various athletic coaches who saw him working out with his unique straps. Quickly he received many requests for the straps—for which he had none. The sudden demand was his ah ha! Moment, it was then that TRX was born.
Between his first and second year at Stanford, he bought an old sewing machine from Mr. B’s Sewing Center on Geary Blvd. in San Francisco. He spent the summer prototyping and researching supply chains. When he was prepared, he rolled out the first model from the trunk of his car, called the “Travel-X: Complete Portable Exerciser”.
“Over 49 different versions were created on the path to finding the right product, the right material, and the best configuration.”
One common theme among resourceful people, as Bill Murphy Jr. says in his article, “Resourceful people recognize that they need help.” Randy Hetrick gave similar advice to some young entrepreneurs:
“Cultivate a great group of advisers, each with deep experience in a relevant business area. There are too many things to know to try to figure it all out on one’s own.”
Being resourceful is about redefining possibilities. It’s about getting the most value out of what you have now. It’s looking for simple ways to solve difficult problems. Creativity allows us to be open-minded and explore new solutions.
As with Hetrick, you cannot always wait for the right resources to be available. You must determine how to proceed without a map.
Original LinkedIn publication 8.27.21