IN MY KITCHEN — I was just thinking last week that triathlons and marathons have become the new mid-life crisis. And then I read the story in the Sunday Times Style Magazine: “The rise of the IRON MAN”.
Turns out that triathlons are the fastest growing mass-participation sport in the UK. The article cites Vernon Kay, Eddie Izzard, David Walliams and Matthew McConaughey (US readers are going: ‘phew, one I recognise!’)
Some people say that it’s all about the gadgets and the expensive kit. Body mass sensors and £5,000 bikes. But I don’t buy that. I think it has a lot more to do with the new ‘mid-life’.
“This is my last break for freedom,” one punter says.
“It’s the equivalent of being off my head in the Ministry of Sound in 1991,” says another.
What really strikes a chord for me is when another person interviewed in the Sunday Times says “Modern life is emasculating.”
These sporting events offer a host of recognisable words:
• objectives
• stretch goals
• key performance indicators
• strategy
• milestones
• challenges
• achievements
• assessment
• competition
• pressure
• stress
Those sound familiar, don’t they? They’re all business terms that probably have no business being used in business!
We have tried to turn business into a sport. And stolen the terminology of athletes and warriors to talk about it. But, when compared to real physical challenge, endurance and survival, the language sounds silly.
Who are our business heroes?
• Warren Buffett
• Lakshmi Mittal
• Jack Welch
• Sergio Marchionne
And what do they do all day?
They sit around reading stuff and talking to people. That’s not exactly the adventure stories we started life dreaming about.
/df
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