I’ve always been fascinated by tangents.
In mathematics, a tangent is a line that touches a curve at exactly one point. It doesn’t drift. It doesn’t overcorrect. It represents the most direct path in that precise moment.
That idea came to life for me while watching the London Marathon this year, where Sabastian Sawe broke the world record. Elite runners don’t just rely on strength and endurance. They rely on precision. On a course filled with turns, they consistently run the tangents, shaving off distance and maximizing efficiency with every step.
But there was something even more interesting.
A thin blue line painted along the road marked the optimal path through the course. It was subtle, but powerful. It removed guesswork. It gave runners a clear, visual guide to follow through every curve and corner.
The best athletes in the world didn’t just run hard. They ran the line.
That image translates directly into how we should think about business processes.
In many organizations, processes evolve over time. Steps are added. Workarounds become normalized. What starts as a clean, efficient flow slowly turns into something more complex and less effective. Teams spend more time navigating the process than executing the work.
They’re running the curve instead of the tangent.
High-performing organizations take a different approach. They intentionally design processes that mirror that blue line on the marathon course.
They make the optimal path visible.
They remove unnecessary steps and friction.
They guide teams with clarity and precision.
This isn’t about cutting corners. It’s about eliminating wasted motion. It’s about aligning effort with outcome in the most direct way possible.
This is how I think about transformation. Whether it’s through better data visibility, streamlined workflows, or enabling technology, the goal is the same: help organizations find and follow their “blue line.”
Because in both racing and business, small inefficiencies compound over distance.
And the difference between good and exceptional often comes down to how well you run the tangent.
Where in your organization are you still running the curve instead of the line?
Photo credit to Bloomberg
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