National Past-time Offers Many Lessons
Baseball doesn’t always get the respect it deserves as a teaching tool. While it is not as popular on TV as compared to football or basketball, the game still has magnetism. Attendance this past season reached an all-time high; fans can still afford to see the game live. Seeing the game in person is the best way to learn.
The first lesson is the slow pace of the game. In today’s “what can you tell me in 30-seconds” world, a slow pace is a welcome change. A slow pace illustrates patience and allows strategies to develop. There are no time limits (just like the real world where problems may take years to solve) and players stay involved from start to finish. There is plenty of time for communications and time-outs are taken regularly to discuss strategy.
The slow pace parallels the work or education world because not every moment is loaded with excitement or doing things. There are lulls but then the action can start to build and intensify. The pace is action then rest; action then rest; score and don’t lose ground; and so on until the game is over (or the task is completed).
The second lesson is the player’s defined roles. Baseball is played as a team but it is a game of individuals. A player can be the best hitter in the league but his team has a losing record. A pitching staff can have big winners and big losers. A team’s record doesn’t always reflect individual performances.
A championship caliber manager doesn’t mange a team, he manages players. Individuals matter in baseball and they contribute to the team’s success. Players know the boundaries and the goals and they have the freedom to determine how to get there.
Players know what their roles are on the team. Some players are interchangeable, playing a variety of positions, but most have single, defined roles. A power hitter will always be in the middle of the batting line-up; weak hitters near the bottom. Starting pitchers train to pace themselves for 6 or 7 innings; relievers can go for 1 or 2 innings. Switch those roles and not much success will ensue.
Leaders need to embrace this attitude of individuals on a team. They need to identify employees’ strengths and have them fill a role that uses those strengths on a regular basis. Some people can do more than one task with success, but most need to specialize. You don’t ask someone to pitch 6 when they are best at 2.
The third lesson is the attitude of success based on failure. The best players fail more often than succeed. A top hitter is successful about 35 percent of the time. A top pitcher wins about half of his starts. The point is that through failure, a player is better prepared to deliver when the game is “on the line.” Many times a hitter will be having a bad day until that last at bat when suddenly he swings and sends a drive deep into the seats to give his team the lead or the win. Baseball players learn from the first time they play the game that failure prepares them for the next opportunity. A hitter doesn’t hit four home runs every game; his goal is to hit a home run when it matters. If you only have one hit, you want it in the bottom of the ninth as a game winner. If you as a pitcher only have one strikeout, you want it on the last batter that wins the game.
Leadership in the workplace is much the same way. People cannot come to work everyday and hit multiple home runs, even though they try. You want them to deliver when it creates a win. You want them to quickly recover from a strikeout and do their best next time. Highly successful people learn from mistakes.
The fourth lesson is that the offense scores even though the ball is controlled by the defense. The pitcher and the catcher attempt to confuse the batter with a variety of pitches. The fielders cut off ground and fly balls to keep runners from getting on base. The offense must overcome these obstacles in order to score runs. Leaders must recognize that control over external events is not always possible; you keep adjusting the strategy to respond to the environment. Your employees continue working at what they do best and they realize that set backs are part of the game. Everyone understands that the game has 27 outs and you have plenty of time to score.
Baseball is enjoyed because of its appearance of simplicity. Talented people make it look effortless and easy. Yet anyone who has tried to play baseball will tell you that it is complex and takes a high level of skill. It appears slow yet decisions are made in milliseconds. Outs are the result of the ball and bat missing the “sweet spot” by millimeters. Defensive plays are the result of superior reaction time and the high degree of coordination between mind and body.
Practice, practice and more practice makes the game look easy when played by professionals. Leaders want their employees to practice, practice and practice so when they are needed, they deliver and it looks easy. Simulation exercises allow people to explore reasons for failure and what needs to be done to be successful next time. Preparation is as much a part of the workplace as work and productivity.
Enjoy a ballgame next year and see how it can apply to your workplace.
Career Development
The three areas of career development considered most important are:
1) learning new skills
2) pay increases, and
3) career paths
The difference in regards to importance relates to age. For example, employees 18 to 26 rank the three areas in terms of importance as 31 percent, 22 percent and 21 percent. People ages 27 to 41 rank the areas as 27, 31 and 33. Finally, people 42 to 61 rank the three areas as 19, 14, and 8.
It is ironic that in the ever changing workplace that so little respect is given to learning new skills. Without question, the acquisition of new skills is linked to pay increases and possibly career paths. Yet, respondents see higher pay and promotions as career development, not learning.
GROWTH <> LEADERSHIP <> EXCELLENCE
© 2006 3 Minute Learning LLC
