Business and Bocce Ball

Every Easter, my friend Jesse leads a rousing game of bocce ball.

Jesse is an artist, so he makes everything creative. Thus began the tradition of "travelling bocce."

Imagine a group of full-grown adults screaming with laughter as they gleefully pitch bocce balls across sidewalks, over fences, through knotholes, and into... an active parking lot.

That’s where we found ourselves this particular Easter.

Jesse threw the mark - and immediately there were groans.

"It's MOVING. The mark is moving! Do-over! C’mon guys – we can’t aim at a moving target.”

"We sure can," cheers Jesse. "Get in there, team. Launch those balls!"

And so, we each stepped up to the proverbial plate, took our best aim, and watched as our ball arced one way while the point ball traveled along its own trajectory. Several benefitted from its path; others were wildly off-track.

And it became very clear:

Good business is a lot like travelling bocce ball.

How?

Because you're constantly aiming at a moving target.

And if there's anything the 2020s have taught us, it's that no one knows which way the 'point ball' is headed.

So what do you do?

1) You aim as best you can

This is about looking outside of your own experiences to see as many headwinds as possible. The great minds at Bell Leadership call this taking stock of your "External Environment.”

Every strong business leader needs to be regularly looking at the macro factors in society, technology, humanity, and industry in order to understand where this moving target is likely to shift next.

2) You observe and learn from others

This is the magic potion of good leadership: a love of listening, absorbing, and processing what others share. Humans are a wealth of information – by asking questions, listening intently, and looking for connections, we are more likely to choose a trajectory that get us closer to our target.

3. You go for it!

As my Mama would say, you can’t finish what you didn’t start. Too many companies wait too long worrying about why, where, and how the point ball is moving.

Our Director of Operations calls it “paralysis by analysis.”

Whatever name you give it – don’t do it! Jump in the game and take a shot instead.

The good news is, in both business and bocce ball, there’s always another round to be had, and a new way to play.