Just 50 more laps

Someone that I know that works in car racing told me recently that if they had had just 50 more laps, they would have done even better.  I’m sure that the statement was absolutely true, but the reality is that the number of laps at any given track is determined months and years in advance of the race actually being run.  The statement made me think about the kinds of issues that all kinds of businesses face: trying to win based on the constraints that have already been set.

So how do you win if you can’t get 50 more laps?