By William R. Dodson
31 May 2002
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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 the when and the how of using 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 globilisation – 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?
William R. Dodson is Managing Director of Silk Road Advisors, L.L.C., a management consultancy that builds and improves working relationships across cultures. He is the international business editor of the American Management Association’s (AMA) MWorld Journal of Management, and writes the weekly column “The Cultured Business”, found at www.silkrc.com and at the Global Perspectives section of the AMA’s member website. He can be reached at sradvisors@gmail.com or +1 (847)630-1271.