Conversations about Culture, Teamwork and Team Outlook

How confident are you that your favorite NFL team will make the right hiring choice during the NFL Draft? 

There are a lot of opinions online when it comes to mock drafts and predictions. Most of them focus on football. That makes sense because the NFL has turned the Draft into a three-day prime-time televised event, but at its core the draft and all the workouts, Pro Days and the Combine are all part of a hiring process that plays out in a very public way.   

Here's what this means for you: there's an opportunity to have productive business conversations that you might not be able to easily broach in your normal day-to-day interactions. 

Football fans are talking about the draft. Casual sports fans are aware of the draft. Use that to your advantage. When you use topic that is top-of-mind and direct the conversation towards specific business challenges, discussions and interactions that's Thinking Outside the Box Scores. 

When I tell people to use sports in business conversations I never suggest using more sports metaphors or cliches. That's not productive discourse. It's trite and cliche and it often alienates non-sports fans. When you turn a conversation about the NFL Draft toward team culture, what makes a great team and overall team expectations, the focus isn't on sports it's on creating the best possible outcome for the people on your team. 

Sports conversations can be used to initiate important conversations you should be having at work without pointing fingers or awkwardly broaching a sensitive topic. Use sports talk to its full advantage and keep thinking outside the box scores.