Why You Should be Thinking Outside the Box Scores

Surely you've seen the highlight by now. The final play of the NFL game between the Raiders and the Patriots. The one where New England was heading toward a win. It was almost guaranteed... until a huge mistake at the end of the game that result in an unlikely fumble recovery returned for a touchdown by the Las Vegas Raiders. 

As a football fan, I couldn't believe the end of the game. That highlight will be shown for decades. 

As a business owner, I see the potential for more conversations than just the outcome because I know mistakes happen, but they rarely happen in such a public way. The final play of that game was a HUGE mistake. Everyone at the game and on the field saw it. Millions of other people (fans and non fans alike) have seen the play. It wasn't just a mistake, it was a lack of fundamentals and there was a conversation after the game about accountability and who was responsible for the mistake and ultimately the loss. 

In sports all of that gets talked about, usually in post-game press conferences and post-game interviews. In business, it's much easier to skip the conversation, avoid conflict and hope it gets better. That's probably not the most productive way to address challenging situations. But pointing the finger at someone on your team at work can be tough. It's much easier to point the finger at an athlete who made a very public mistake - and that's one of the benefits of Thinking Outside the Box Scores. You can use sports to spark conversations you might otherwise avoid, but shouldn't. 

If you're already a fan this is one way you can use sports to your advantage in business conversations. There are many more. Make sure you subscribe to the weekly series on YouTube.