Well, that was cool. literally.
For my post-holiday work outing last week, I decided to do something different: curling.
Yes, curling. That strange sport seen at the Olympics, which takes place once every four years, involves a group of people desperately cleaning ice plates, targets like dartboards, and brooms.
Like many people, I had never understood curling or why it was considered a sport. Among the Olympic sports, there have always been sports that even people with limited athletic ability (like me) can easily master. Using a broom is easy, right?
We showed up at Tee-Line, Nashville's first “curling bar,” around 6 p.m. My first impression was that the size of the curling “sheet” looked much larger in person than it did on TV. And of course it was very cold.
After attaching non-slip rubber covers to their shoes, they divided into teams of five and did a simple training session.
A “thrower” is someone who skates on one knee and aims a 40-pound “curling stone” at a target (also known as a “house”) more than 100 feet away. As the stone moves, a “sweeper” frantically takes over using a broom, reducing friction along the stone's path and guiding it to the center of the target.
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There are many nuances that determine who wins or loses. But overall, the rules of the game are not complicated. Once your 10-minute training session is over, you're ready to start. After some friendly conversation about curling, the match began.
It only took me a few minutes to realize that none of us had a chance to make it to the Olympics.
Most of our throws either stopped well short of the target or passed directly over the target and hit the back wall. The sweep was good, but not good enough to save the off-mark throw. And even if one of our stones landed on the target, our team could accidentally drop it on the next throw.
After an hour of play, both teams were able to land only one stone on the target. The final score was 1-0.
Despite the lack of success, there was a lot of laughter and high fives as they came off the ice. What a unique and fun way to spend time together.
But it also reminded our team of an important lesson.
Curling, like business, is much more difficult than it looks.
From the outside, curling appears to be a sport that anyone with a broom and a willingness to try can easily master. But looks can be deceiving, as we quickly discovered. It only took a few minutes to be humbled.
The same goes for business.
When I first entered the business world, I knew it would be a challenge, but it didn't take me long to realize that it was even more difficult than it looked.
It takes many skills to excel in business, including sales, marketing, human resources, legal, customer service, macroeconomics, microeconomics, negotiation, and mental strength. And that requires great products and services, and good ethics.
Some things look easy. But for every success story, there are hundreds of people who miss their goals more often than they achieve them, and just get by. Just like in curling, in business, mastering the right combination of luck, hard work, and know-how can make the difference between winning it all and falling behind.
JJ Rosen isAtiba, becustom software development company andNashville IT support company. visitAtiba.com For more information.
