August 2004

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<I>August 2004</I></div> <div> <I>The following article was first published in the Eastern Daily Press' 'The Business' on 17 August 2004</I></div> <bR> <div> <B>Business and sporting games:  more than a passing resemblance</B></div> <bR> <div> I use analogies regularly to help clients understand a new concept and to relate it to their business and its issues.  Frequently the analogy will be a sporting one, not just because I'm interested in sport, or because the client might more easily see the connection, but mainly because the parallels between business issues and those seen in sport are so strong.</div> <bR> <div> One of the first analogies I use is that of the playing field and the rules of the game.  Think of a football or rugby field:  there are visible goals and there are clear boundaries within which the game must be played - step outside the touch line and play stops. There are a clear set of rules, understood by everyone, by which the game is controlled - a late tackle or collapsed scrum and you're penalised.  Within those parameters, however, free-flowing and imaginative play is generally rewarded by good results.  </div> <bR> <div> Similarly, great businesses are also well-defined.  Their people know what the organisation's objectives are (the goals) and exactly what is expected of them in terms of behaviour and company values (the boundaries).  They have clearly defined roles and responsibilities and job descriptions for team members, detailed procedures for the operations of the business and the way in which they look after their customers (the rules).  And within this framework - or culture - imaginative, innovative and adaptable behaviour from members of the team is highly valued.</div> <bR> <div> In business, as in sport, it's important to know as much as you can about your opponents.  Knowing how they play, what makes them good, what their weaknesses are - all of these are important pieces of intelligence that smart business people gather and analyse regularly.  Keeping track of what your competitors are up to is vital, as is knowing how well they perform when compared to you.</div> <bR> <div> Coaches of Olympic athletes competing this week and next in Athens began years ago to build their performance towards the standards they knew would be needed to have a chance of a podium finish in this most ancient of sporting contests.  They worked on techniques, they spent weeks shaving hundredths of seconds off times, they calculated jumpers' and vaulters' progress in mere millimetres.  Above all, they measured, measured, measured.  You can't know if you or your team are improving unless you measure your performance regularly.  Businesses need to identify the activities that contribute most to their success and then measure how well they perform those activities.  Such Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are a vital tool for managing success.   </div> <bR> <div> Despite the altruistic musings of poets, competition is not just about how you play the game - it's about winning.  One can and should win with integrity and displaying good sportsmanship, but the objective of competitive games is to win.  In any game, and in business, if you don't keep score, you'll never know if you're winning or not.  So, measuring the financial progress of the business - regularly and thoroughly - is just as important as keeping the score at a football or cricket match.    </div> <bR> <div> A final thought:  analogy is an anagram of ANY GOAL.  In most games, as in business, you must have a goal - an objective towards which the team is always striving.  Without a goal, your team (or your business) will be aimless.  The Cheshire Cat, in `Alice in Wonderland' put it wonderfully:  “If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there.”<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> </td> <td valign="top" width=180 BGCOLOR="#CC3333" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>