I’m reading this book, “Hardball for Women”, and found something interesting that I never thought of, but is true. The author, Pat Heim, says that business is conducted like a team sport. Interesting, but not the part I was talking about. She said that evidence of this is in the terms used to describe business behavior. “Game Plan.” “Score Points.” “Ball is in your court.” “Tackle” the problem. “Throw in the towel.” “Ball-park figure.” Granted some of these aren’t strictly from team sports, unless you include the coaches and ball boys.
So I opened my ears and employed my rusty observation skills. I got a vmail from this guy who is buying our house. Within 30 seconds, he had used at least 3 terms. I was laughing too hard to continue count. “I wanted to touch base with you and let you know my game plan. The inspector will be coming by tommorrow. After he gives me the report, we can figure out how to tackle the problems.”
The next day, we had our All-Hands. I listened very carefully, but my VP didn’t use any sports terms. He IS German, so baseball doesn’t apply. But no soccer terms like “Go for the goal.” Hmmm. Is the theory shot? Perhaps. But I think that the sports terminology phenomenon is really an American thing. His English is excellent. In fact, his writing is more concise than mine. But he only moved to the Bay Area from Germany a few months ago. I suppose he needs to soak longer.