Steve Levy posts:
>.....metaphors without reality checks equals trouble down the road.
>Maybe we should just leave the sports and war stories to the pros . . .
>besides I suspect it's somewhat offensive to those who actually sweated or
>died in the course of the events.
I rarely find such analogies useful or enlightening but did want to
comment on this concept. Some years ago I worked in a systems software
firm where a number of folks used the war analogies. We hired a retired
officer to run our administrative functions and to oversee the
construction of our new office buildings. He pointed out to his boss,
others, and his staff that he had two rules:
1. Never call me during the night or on week-ends unless it is a matter of
life and death.
2. This is a business, there are no matters of life and death.
(Yes, for all of you rationalists, he did get called in true emergencies)
Not long after this, I was asked at an exec staff meeting about my own
experiences with death in the military. I explained that I had dealt with
a number and would be happy to answer questions privately.. and when
pressed described the first search and rescue effort I had participated in
for a missing pilot.
The number of military/war analogies dropped relatively sharply - and as
the more senior staff stopped using them, so did other managers. The more
interesting part was the increase in the number of analogies that were
related to parenting, schooling, retail experience, home/car upkeep and in
people's increased response to these analogies. I never had been offended
by war analogies so much as generally amused by them but I certainly found
the change added to our dialogue rather than cutting it off.
patria frame
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