Spring has sprung here in Michigan (finally!) and my attention is turning to baseball. I grew up in Michigan so I am a huge fan of the Detroit Tigers. I can't tell you how many hours I spent throwing a tennis ball (they bounced much more wildly than a regular baseball and they didn't dent the garage wall - which my dad preferred) against the outside wall of our garage, practicing my fielding skills while listening to Ernie Harwell call the Tiger games. I kept at it and before I knew it, I was good enough to play shortstop for my high school team and eventually at the college level. There were a lot of people better than me but I was solid and could hold my own. I'm not playing baseball any more but that tennis ball throwing/fielding has taught me a important lesson in facilitating innovation at my company.
Facilitating innovation takes practice.
The shortstop is arguably the most important player on the field. He/she is the one that can call off anyone else on the infield for fly balls. They have to be athletic, have a strong arm, and possess the ability to see the entire field and be in the right position at the right time (if you watch a game and pay close enough attention, you'll see just how much the shortstop backs up throws - on EVERY throw from the catcher back to the pitcher with men on base). Never tiring, doing the job that needs to be done.
The athletic ability that goes into making the backhand snag in the hole to then turn and throw the speedy runner out at first base takes strength training and practice. Recently, I got the opportunity to go to NYC to take Luke Hohmann's Innovation Games® class. I started as a corporate innovator but left a certified Innovation Games® facilitator (which I think of as a license to learn).
Anyway, the class was kind of like attending a baseball clinic. Luke Hohmann (creator of Innovation Games®) was the coach. He explained and demonstrated how to play the games and he ran the drills. Metaphorically speaking, he'd pick up the bat and hit ground balls to the infielders (class) and we'd work on our fielding skills. He'd offer encouragement and advice along the way, making us all better, preparing us to succeed. When we made mistakes, he'd encourage us and help us understand what we needed to improve upon. He was agile in that he tailored the clinic to the needs to of the participants (all shortstops in the making).
Now that I've taken the "clinic" I am feeling more prepared and I think I have some good Innovation Games® athleticism built up but the rest is really up to me. It means spending time throwing the tennis ball against the garage wall or, in this case, facilitating as many Innovation Games® as I can so that I can someday have the opportunity to call myself the shortstop of innovation at my company.
Derek Jeter, shortstop for the New York Yankees. Arguably, the best shortstop of all time. (He's also from Kalamazoo, Michigan)
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