Paul Francis, the man in charge of NIKE’s infamous Sport Research Lab (the “Kitchen) has a simple motto – enthusiasm creates momentum, and momentum creates change.
How he got where he is today
I have a background in sports medicine and I was working with UK sport in their performance arm for four years before I joined NIKE. My work was focussed on cycling and rowing, working directly with athletes and understanding how we could improve their performances. I’ve been lucky enough to work across a broad range of experiences from consulting, startups and private practice, even coaching my way through university, but the link between everything has always been an obsession with making athletes better at what they do.
A few years ago I met Tony Bignell (Vice President, footwear innovation at NIKE) and he offered me the chance to work with him at NIKE’s innovation kitchen and try to change the face of sports performance. It was impossible to say no. I’ve been here at NIKE for just over two years now.
How his previous work prepared him for what he does now
For quite some time now I’ve looking at how the body and sport equipment work together, but now I focus on the ankle and the foot and how they specifically work with a shoe. As I mentioned, previously I had focused on rowing and cycling which are both sports where equipment is crucial to an athletes’ performance, the foot always plays a critical role in human performance across many sports, so shoe design was a natural progression for me. It’s a broad area of design because different athletes need different things from a shoe so we always have multiple challenges on our hands at any one time.
About his strongest skill
My education provided me with a strong understanding in how the body works. This gives me a strong and consistent focus on how to make athletes better – ultimately we are trying to improve the function of the body if we are trying to augment performance. To understand the mechanics helps when inventing against it.
I also have a lot of enthusiasm and have learned to use it as an energy source (along with caffeine) so usually I can imagine a fully resolved design solution quite clearly. What I like to do is fast forward through to the final solution and get very excited and enthusiastic about it and use that enthusiasm to build the momentum needed to overcome issues on the way to finishing a project. Enthusiasm creates momentum – momentum creates change.
About his experience working at NIKE
Without exaggerating or sounding like a cliche, I’ve really enjoyed every day of this job so far. It’s very particular and involved and I love that. It’s a dream job for me, being able to collaborate with such talented people from all over the world, and being asked to push possibilities every day. It’s probably one of the few jobs in the world where you are allowed to fail repeatedly on the journey to a successful breakthrough.