Sports and Business

I love sports and I think there are some great analogies between sports and the working world. I heard a great comment today on ESPN. On their talk show "Pardon the Interruption" they were talking about Michael Jordan and his enjoyment of gambling on sports. Jordan is famous, some boring farts would say infamous, for betting huge sums on any sort of competitive endeavor. In particular on the golf course. The rumour is that when Michael is asked "how much do you want to play for?" he always  replies, "whatever will make you feel uncomfortable".

The essence of this is pretty profound in terms of competition. Despite Michael's ability that made him the best there ever was, there is that competitive spirit that is looking for every creative little edge over his competition. I hear a lot of "that's not fair" when talking to people about work and business but not enough, "that's really competitive". As long as people aren't hurting each other I think it is pretty good to have some competitive spirit. If you are saying to yourself "life isn't fair" perhaps it's time to get a little more competitive with it.

By the way, may favorite book on Jordan - For The Love of the Game - beautiful, hardcover volume with great photos and Michael talking about everything he enjoyed in his career up until the end of the Bulls era.