By Luke Melms
Football and basketball teams can be bailed out by halftime, boxers can be saved by the bell but baseball doesn’t find itself with a clock for good reason. There’s no way around three outs in an inning or running out the clock to avoid playing all nine innings.
Time of games has been a hot topic within pro baseball. Personally I find the emphasis on trying to trim off minutes way too likely to water down the game. The pitch clock is an idea I’d rather not see make its way into the game.
While I don’t believe timers belong anywhere on a baseball field, I do believe one can be the easiest way to track towards a goal in business. Creating deadlines not only creates a priority but also builds in accountability. As simple as it may seem I’ve found putting a countdown on a whiteboard one of the best ways to keep my eyes in front of the deadline I’ve created. Having to erase it and put a new number on each day has been a system I’ve found to work.
The scoreboard in baseball can do the same. Whether it inside or outside baseball, we often find a new level of capacity when our back is up against the wall. The best example on a baseball field I can recall is a big league game I remember watching in 2001. The Indians came back to beat the Mariners after being down 12 runs going into the 7th inning. The rally included a five run 9th to tie it before going on to win in extra innings 15-14.
We all have at least one thing we’ve been wanting to do but haven’t quite made the full commitment to follow through yet. Last week I announced the soon to launch Baseball and Business podcast. The announcement automatically builds in the accountability to follow through on my word. I thank each of you who emailed back with some feedback and ideas. I am excited to roll out this project soon.
If you’d like to share a goal on your mind and would like some accountability, I’ve created a post in the LinkedIn group to leave a comment on. Let’s get some engagement going and hold each other accountable to attainable goals before the year ends. Leave your goal with a specific deadline in the comments. Click here to be taken to the post.
