Rounding first…
Thanks for your post Carl. Team sports offer fantastic metaphors for business ventures. In many cases, the team itself comprises a venture, a vehicle for business development leadership.
Your post leads me to muse on the topic of metaphors. So many powerful analogies that help us understand entrepreneurship… metaphors that inspire us to imagine innovation. The temptation is strong to wrap the progress of my proposed auto-industry venture “Parkway” in metaphors from our car culture.
After all, I am at work on a road map. I could be in second gear looking for third. Broadly, transportation gives us plenty more to chew on… building bridges, the information super highway, or am i putting the cart ahead of the horse?
Rather than just picture the ideal business model as coasting down the highway – or even breaking the land-speed record – the entrepreneur must justify the means to the ends, to see the crew in the pit stop, and the involvement of customers and partners in success.
To your point, the team sports metaphor is a rich source of comparison for the aspiring entrepreneur. For me, that means baseball most often:
I am rounding first, checking my distance back to the base. First was the cusp from explore to pursue. Or I am a rookie pitcher, circulated in the minors with some sucess, and am taking my warm up just ahead of my first major league pitch.
At the very least, it behooves my game to work on the fundamentals and listen to my coaches.
Spring training, there’s a good one…
How ’bout those Sox? Oof.
Best,
Jared
P.S. bloody sport, that rugby.