How is Working Like March Madness?

I’m a big college basketball fanatic. 

This time of year, I watch WAY TOO MUCH sports on TV. 

This isn’t so much a choice, it’s more of an annualized addictive habit. 

Watching college basketball on TV seems to get in the way of everything else that I might be doing this time of year, of other ways that I might spend my time like, for example, creating blog posts. 

And, what’s worse, this year my favorite team (Xavier) didn’t even make the NCAA tournament, but I’m still watching lots of games. (I’m a huge Xavier fan even though I never went to Xavier- don’t ask, it’s complicated.)

So, I naturally got to thinking the other day (at least naturally for me) about the connections between March Madness and the world of work. I know that sports analogies can get tiresome, but it is after all March. 

Here is how working and March Madness are alike:

You Need to Accept Imperfections and Still Love It

College basketball is an incredibly, amazingly flawed sport. Have you ever watched the last “two minutes” of a game? It takes like 30 minutes, clock time, to watch. First, the refs need to stop the game (and one team’s momentum) for 5 minutes to add or subtract a few milliseconds from the clock, as if that really matters that much. Then we’ve got an injury time out because somebody who has been running around for 40 minutes is cramping up (what’s the deal, they’re only 20 years old !!). Then we’ve got a replay review for a flagrant foul. Oops, now the shot clock isn’t working. It’s ridiculous. Only a lunatic (like me) would stay on the couch to see the end.

Then there’s the issue of who gets paid what. The coaches are usually the second or third highest paid state employees (after the football coach). The universities are raking in money for their athletic departments. The shoe companies are in there somewhere. But the folks who are actually playing the game? Nada. Nothing. I’m not sure how to solve this problem and apparently the NCAA isn’t either- since just about every year we have a “commission” of high-powered people who do a “study,” and nothing much ever changes. 

I could go on, but I won’t. Except for maybe the part about how the coaches can move to another school and coach right away, but if the player transfers, unless he is already a grad student, he has to sit out a year.

But come to think of it, every place I ever worked was deeply flawed too. There were egos and stupid meetings and crazy politics and rules that made no sense. But unless you have another job lined up, one of your better options is the same as what I usually did – see if you can also find something to love about the place. All organizations are dysfunctional, but that doesn’t mean we don’t need them. Indeed, not much gets done these days without a team effort which entails some form of organization. 

So, the game is really imperfect, but I don’t turn off the TV – or leave the job- just because of those imperfections. 

One Player Can Make a Huge Difference

Have you ever wondered how important recruiting new talent is to your organization? Have you wondered if it’s worth that extra phone call, extra lunch or dinner to get to know someone better before you make them an offer?

If you watch as much college basketball as I do, you might not wonder so much. Because there are some players when, as soon as they step on the court, the entire team seems to get better. Suddenly, the ball is zipping around the court on offense and guys who could barely hit the backboard are making three-point shots. The defense tightens, and one team is getting all the loose balls. All because of one player who really knows how to play the game.

This happens at work too, all the time. The only difference is that the score-keeping isn’t quite as simple.

The Best Sports, and the Best Products, Are Habitual

There is something deeply habitual to me about watching college basketball every March. Do I need to seek therapy to remedy this situation? Possibly, but I’m too busy watching the games to do that right now.

I’m hooked on watching these games in ways that defy easy rationalization or explanation.

Then again, what’s the most successful product in the world right now commercially? It’s called an iPhone. If you are wondering how habitual the iPhone is, just walk down a street in a busy urban area and see how many pedestrians are perfectly willing to risk their lives so that they can look at their phone one more time. Or watch couples who seem to be on a date in a restaurant looking into their phones instead of actually looking at each other. 

The products that really matter to us are things that we habitually use or consume. If you are building software and your customers demand 99.99% uptime, that’s probably a good thing. And if your product goes down for a day or two and nobody calls you up to scream at you, that’s definitely a bad thing.

Deep Engagement is What Matters

Occasionally, I get the honor of working with people to figure out what to do with the next step of their careers. In some circles this is called coaching. I always ask these folks to spend a week or two keeping track of how they spent their time, and what was highly engaging to them, versus only partially engaging, versus useless or boring. 

This inevitably leads to a productive and insightful discussion. Because, really, improving your career – and improving your life – is about spending more of your time doing things that deeply engage you- and less of your time doing things that drive you bonkers. I know there are other things to think about, but understanding what deeply engages you is a great place to start.

You know when you are deeply engaged when you lose track of time. In the best of conditions, you end up in a state-of-flow which is as close as some of us get to a spiritual experience. 

It turns out that what deeply engages us is very personalized. For some of us, it is doing things that just might enable us to win the Nobel Prize. For others, it might be a day at the office where the teamwork just really clicked. For some, it’s having 4 hours on a Sunday to get all your work done with no one interrupting you. And, for a few of us, it is watching college basketball. 

So, I hope I’ve convinced you that good work has much in common with March Madness. And I hope I’ve helped you think about accepting imperfections, habit-forming products, players who make everyone better, and deep engagement. But, either way, I need to get going …… because I’ve got some games to watch.