By William R. Dodson
I would like to “score a goal” with you,
dear reader, in explaining the attraction in business for using sports
metaphors. I’m afraid, though, that it may only be in “the
last nine yards” of the article that I may “score a touchdown”;
you know, “hit a homerun” in your understanding of the motivations
behind this insidious form of tribalism. I want very much to “go
the distance” with you, “KO (Knock Out!)” you, “raise
the bar” in expanding your business vocabulary. But we may have
to “scrum down” about it first.
Sports metaphors are annoying conversation constructs
that reduce communication to inelegant shorthand signals that create barriers
to working effectively across cultures. In other words, sports scribble
“strikes out” with me. I realize this can create a bit of
a “sticky wicket” for many, since we’ve all come to
rely on these verbal crutches like a golfer relies on his or her “handicap.”
It’s true not all the buzz-words used in business
are drawn from sports. There’s the military, as well: the other
day I was talking with the “officers” of a corporation about
their “strategic objectives” in “conquering” market
share through a “staged, tactical assault” on the competition’s
“key assets.” Vice Presidents love that kind of talk.
After “kicking the idea around” for a bit,
I decided I would be able to produce “a hat trick” that would
impress readers: I thought it better that I do such a thing now lest I
“foul out of the game.” After all, no one likes “a sore
loser,” even if he is “the captain of the team.” Though
it’s true the employees of many companies require “coaching”
in cross-cultural communications, I believe the first and most effective
thing staff can do is to stop using the offending words. I think we should
“red card” anyone who says things like, “that meeting
was more like a scrum”; or “I thought that question was off-sides”;
or “that sale was a hole- in-one.” It’s as though business
people were all “cheerleading” instead of managing.
Managers who work in cross-cultural contexts really
need to be more conscious of when and how they use sports metaphors. Sports
do not necessarily transfer across borders. Here, I speak of my American
compatriots who assume everyone in the world follows American football,
American baseball (despite the World Series) and American basketball.
Conversely, most Americans wouldn’t know a red card from a yellow
card and would be waiting for the green card to tell them it was safe
to continue driving. Even I’ve been caught out on occasion by British
colleagues who want something by “the close of play” (the
end of the business day).
So, here’s my suggestion. Countries should found
an independent committee to establish a lexicon of permissible metaphors
that all countries can use when doing business with each other. Perhaps
the committee is an NGO, part of the United Nations. Then, the committee
should choose a neutral culture – perhaps a culture that has gone
extinct as a memorial to globalization – and draw metaphors and
images from there.
I vote we should seriously consider the Headhunters
of Borneo. Doesn’t matter if there are still any or not. It’s
a proud and ancient culture, nonetheless. I believe metaphors we draw
from the headhunters will be useful and colorful in business. For instance,
“Boy, I sure took the head off the competition!” Or, “I
sliced through that presentation like...” well, you get the idea.
However we choose to communicate across cultures within
the business place, let’s strip our messages of words and ideas
we know will exclude others. Or, in the least, let’s take the time
to explain them to our international partners in a non-patronizing way;
use the sports terms as bricks to build a bridge of understanding. It
will make our work with our counterparts easier and more pleasurable.
Now where’s that darned golf club of mine?
Author Bio: William R. Dodson is Managing Director
of Silk Road Communications, L.L.C., a management consultancy that builds
and improves working relationships across cultures. He is a contributing
editor of American Management Association’s (AMA) MWorld Journal of Management.
He can be reached at wdodson@silkrc.com
or +1 (847)722-7817.
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