Playing the right game

There are many analogies between business (or life in general) and various games. One of my favorites is chess.

Others like football and talk about the "end run" and "going long.” For others, it's baseball and "hitting the home run" or the "fast pitch," or poker where you "lay your cards on the table" or have "an ace in the hole."

Whatever your preference, the thing is to make sure you are playing the right game. More importantly might be to make sure you are both playing the same game by the same rules.

Your first job is to figure out what game the other person is playing. You might be a genteel soul who prefers to play badminton. But if you venture out onto a football field in your clean white shorts and shirt, carrying a birdie and racquet, you might find yourself is trouble. They’ll pile on and stuff you into the mud.

It's not that they are bad guys. They made an assumption, and a very logical one, that since they are all football players and since you walked out onto the football field, you must understand that the name of the game is football. They are absolutely going to tackle you. And they are not going to be gentle about it. That is just not the way the game is played.

D.D.