Smarty was a huge favorite to win the Triple Crown over the weekend, becoming the first horse to do it in 26 years. But Birdstone, a 36-to-1 shot, ran Smarty down during the home stretch to win the Belmont Stakes.
So, for the third year in a row and the 10th time since 1978, the horse that won two legs of the Triple Crown failed to win the third. Although three horses won the crown during the 1970s, they are the only ones to have done it since Citation in 1948.

If you’re champing at the bit for a workplace lesson, here goes: The Belmont is a longer race than the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, so horses and jockeys have to adapt. Most don’t have the skills or endurance to do it, just as most workers have trouble when circumstances change.

In the past 56 years, only three horses — all from Generation X, if you’re looking for symbolism — have had those exceptional qualities. Finding versatile human workers is just about as rare.

If you’re a manager, think about which tasks demand exceptional work and which require only competent performance. For the particularly demanding duties, make sure you’re letting your workers capitalize on their strengths, rather than distracting them with lots of relatively trivial duties and demands on their time.

And if you’re a worker who is not exceptionally gifted, make sure you focus on whatever tasks are either most crucial to your boss or your chances for career advancement. If you let yourself get distracted, you’ll be an also-ran.