A Lesson from Baseball

Like many of my clients, it may be hard to acknowledge that your organization could be doing better until you see how other organizations do things differently.  That’s because it is often difficult to identify what it means for an organization to “hum” until you learn to see and feel it elsewhere.  You may first witness it when you visit another organization and observe the easy manner and general contentedness and focus of the of the management and staff.  You may listen to a friend or colleague in another organization discuss all the ways in which that person finds his office efficient and stimulating.  And, sometimes, you can see it in something as simple as a baseball team.

As baseball season gets underway, you may have the chance to see a baseball game in which one team just seems to click.  I’m not talking about when disjointed elements like one superstar batter and a talented pitcher create a win.  I’m not talking about the home team advantage or a lucky error that leads to a last minute grand slam in the 9th inning.  I’m talking about how every once in awhile you witness a game in which each player does his job exceedingly well and with a comfortable ease.  I’m talking about the game in which each player’s effort supports the other players’ roles, making the team as a whole much more powerful and successful than it’s individual talented players. It’s when the energy of the team comes together and you can just sense they will win the game from the first inning.  If you know what I’m talking about, you know what it means for an organization to hum and you probably know instinctively whether or not your organization plays to win.

Once you realize that you will never have a winning team until you take the necessary time and make the effort to make things hum, it is time to take action within your organization.