Comparing Football And Business: Team Orientation And The Importance Of New Hire Orientation

I’m sick of this NFL lockout.  I want OTAs (Organized Team Activities) to start already, so my favorite teams can get their S___ together.  Take the case of the 49ers.  Harbaugh is the brand new coach, coming from a college program:  Stanford.  How much contact has he had with Alex Smith, the QB?  And did he draft Colin Kaepernick, the wet-behind-the-ears rookie, to challenge Smith for the starting position?  How can they proceed? They NEED CONTACT.

They need training camp to put it all together!!

We can use a business analogy. Most businesses don’t even bother with team orientation.  At one of my companies I worked in, the new-hire orientation, according to the managers, consisted of “throwing the newbies into a dark room and seeing if they can find the light switch.  Sure, they’ll get battered and bruised knocking into chairs and things, but, hey—that was how they did it with me, so. . .”

I am not making this up.  I contend what separates GREAT teams—in business and in sports—is the orientation, the organized team activities, the training camps, the clear expectations, SPELLED OUT.

Day 119 of the NFL lockout, and now there is “optimism” according to the sports pundits, that they will settle by July 21st, when the team owners meet in Orlando.  So, like every nail-biting negotiation, each side waits until “crunch time” to give in a little and make concessions.  If they settle in July, training camps can start on time, and no regular season games will be in jeopardy—HOORAY!

We can only hope. . .

More on this in my new book, Necessary Roughness!