5 things businesses should NEVER copy from sports - and 3 they should - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

5 things businesses should NEVER copy from sports - and 3 they should - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Many companies look to sports for cues on motivations and performance and star athletes and coaches and make big bucks as corporate speakers.?There is this?unquestioned assumption that if youre successful in sports, you can teach workplaces something that will make them more effective. Id like to challenge that assumption :) In fact, I believe there are so many fundamental differences between running a business and (say) coaching a football team that it becomes?almost impossible?to transfer any principles or practices. Here are?5 things businesses should definitely?not copy from sports: 5: Abrasive?coaches It seems like sports team coaches are given license to be complete jerks. They can throw tantrums, yell at referees, badmouth opposing players (or even their own players) in public and be celebrated for all of this because it shows passion. Nobody wants that kind of behavior from their manager at work.?Steve Ballmer tried this sort of thing as CEO of Microsoft and has been deservedly?ridiculed for it. 4: Adulation for star players Sports teams have a few stars and many supporting players.?In a workplace you need everyone to perform at their best. 3: Intense?competition Its a common belief that?competition?makes people perform better, but research shows that its actually the other way around competition makes people achieve worse results. 2: Rewards for results Athletes are almost always rewarded for results win that tournament and theres prize money. Again, research shows that bonuses in the workplace make people less productive on any task that requires creativity and independent thinking. 1: Focus only on the next game In sports, the focus is often only on the next game. In business, you need to be able to think long-term and create success not just for this week but for years in the future. Each of those 5 practices are very common in sports but just dont work in business. ?That being said, there are a few?practices in sports that businesses should?absolutely emulate. Here are three: 3:?Make time for training Athletes spend many more hours training for matches than actually in matches.?This gives them a chance to improve their skills and a risk-free environment where they can try out new approaches and plays and see how they work. In the workplace however, there is rarely a chance to try out new ideas without risking failure. Employees are always playing for points and never playing to learn. 2: Celebrate success Athletes are very good at celebrating?wins. They even celebrate partial progress towards a win when they score a goal or similar. In many?workplaces, success is met with a shrug and wins are rarely celebrated. 1: Include?restitution Every successful athlete know that you get stronger by training and THEN RESTING.?Without restitution, youre actually just continually weakening yourself. Workplaces on the other hand?consistently underestimate the need for restitution. Employees are worked hard constantly and breaks and time off work?are seen as a necessary evil. In fact,?employees are?implicitly told that they can show commitment by giving up weekends and vacations and working more hours. There is no?reason why we should try to follow the lead of athletes and coaches?in our efforts?to create better and more successful workplaces. Many of the practices from sports just wont work in a workplace you could even argue that many of them dont even work that well in sports. And dont even get me started on copying practices from the military :) Your take Has your company ever had a star coach or an athlete come in and speak? What did they say, that you found useful? What do you think workplaces should or shouldnt copy from sports? Write a comment and let me know your take. Related posts Top 5 reasons to celebrate mistakes at work Top 5 ways NOT to praise people at work Free time a forgotten dream Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related