It's not about the difficulty it's about the execution at the end of the day.

The Olympics have been wonderful.  And I am not sure where I will gain my daily 'hit' of euphoria once the Olympics and the Paralympics leave our shores for good. It has truly been a time of memorable moments, outstanding performances and history being made daily.  With that has come many tears and blubbage (even had its own #) if the twitterverse is anything to go by. Oh if we could bottle that!

But to me one of the most memorable moments, for a number of reasons was this. Heartbreaking due to the injustice almost of the decision and inspiring due to the absolute professionalism and true gentleman like behaviour of Louis Smith in the face of such a cruel application of the rule book.

But the reason why it was memorable was how the 'winner' was decided - the decision came down to the marks on execution.  The difficulty rating of Smith's spectacular pommel routine was higher - and the overall score was equal with Krisztian Berki's but he executed his routine better according to the judges and the gold medal was lost in that moment.

Is it fair? Who can say. But despite my odd soggy eye in response to the amazing Olympic achievements of TeamGB, up to that point I had not really shed tears - for Louis Smith I did - it was a cruel way to lose a gold medal and I was gutted for him.

My reason for raising it here is as a simple reminder.  That though there is much debate over who invented or first used what fundraising technique in the sector (though I appreciate for the people who know they did - this isn't a debate), or who even 'copied' an idea - the fact is that those that executed the techniques and ideas the best and continue to, are the ones remembered or associated with them the most positively - not those that necessarily faced the difficulty of trying something new and different but who may have let themselves down on the final delivery.

And though it is hopefully stating the bleeding obvious, when it comes to your next fundraising project or idea - just bear this in mind. Allow ample time to implement and execute it properly and ensure that the materials, systems and processes required to support it internally and externally are there.  If you don't have to compromise the quality to achieve the deadline - then you are half way there. If you don't, someone could swoop in, take your idea and then do the whole thing better than you.

After all often it will be your supporters or potential supporters that will be judging what you do - and they could well be your harshest critics.

Thanks as ever for stopping by.