Get out of the trenches and off of the field

Who doesn't love a metaphor? Leadership trainings, business meetings, and strategic plans are rife with them. On one recent project, my team and I were cleaning closets, catching fish, moving buckets, and building sheds - all without leaving our desks.

I love metaphors as much as the next organizational geek, but there are two metaphors that I do not love:

War and sports.

They're almost cliche by now, and yet I still hear leaders using them. Customer service agents are "down in the trenches." Teams make decisions "at the buzzer." Ambitious goals are "half court shots."

The metaphors we choose, especially when we talk about leadership and strategy, resonate deeply within our organizations. They anchor abstract concepts to concrete images. They give people a vivid common language to talk about changes, decisions, and actions. They shape our understanding of the organization and our role within it. Many of us use war and sports terminology without pondering these implications, and so I'm asking you to stop and think: Do you really want your organization to resemble either of these things?

War and sports have masculine connotations. While there are many female soldiers and professional athletes, those women have had to overcome gender barriers and deep cultural assumptions. Whether the organizational "glass ceiling" has been broken or not, these metaphors can be loaded for some employees. Even if you don't intend to portray an "old boys' club" mentality, some employees may hear that message as an unwanted subtext of your metaphor.

War and sports have clearly defined winners and losers. War and sports are great examples of teamwork in real life. This is one of the reasons they are so appealing to managers. Individuals pool their best effort together for a single goal: to defeat another group of individuals trying to do the same thing. However, if your technical writers are the Minnesota Vikings, then who are the Green Bay Packers? The art department? HR?

War and sports have singular objectives. Winning on the battlefield or the football field is clear cut and easy to measure. Winning in business is muddier, more complex, and wrought with delays and downstream implications. If you launched your product on time, or had a profitable third quarter, that does not mean that you won the game.

War and sports have stopping points. Organizations do not. Or so we hope.


What type of metaphors should we use instead?

I like metaphors from nature, since they are gender neutral, acknowledge complexity, and affirm life and harmony.

I think the best leaders are those who can see the forest and the trees, while acknowledging the root systems, soil structures, and growth patterns of their organizations. They consider that even the smallest change can impact the entire ecosystem for years to come. While they are keenly aware of their own influence on the forest, they also know that the only way to exert complete control over a living system is to destroy it.