Lesson from Lord of the Rings land

Last week I was in New Zealand for the annual convention of the business club which I belong to. It's called Business Swap. The photo's here show me enjoying a prize my group won - a fantastic helicopter flight over one of the areas used for filming Lord of the Rings near Queenstown in the South Island.

Our group won the prize by getting the highest score in a fun outdoors activity. We had to follow clues around Queenstown, collecting details, and composing a short story on the spot.

The groups were made up of a random selection of delegates, so it was a good chance to get to talk with some of the other people attending the convention.

But we didn't expect to win. We had fun completing the quest, but thought one of the other teams would have done better. I was even sitting there visualising another team getting the prize - not a positive thought!

So we were REALLY surprised when the points were tallied and we were announced as the winners.

The lesson from this is that you can never be sure you wont win. So next time you have a challenge for your business, or a difficult sales situation, make the best of your opportunity. You never know... maybe you will be successful as well.