Real Time Strategy: Power Play

Talk with any business person for more than a few minutes about corporate strategy' and the sports metaphors begin to pour out. “The bases are loaded,” “you get three strikes and you're out,” and “we were thrown a curve ball” are favorites from baseball. Football brings us “we'll need some‐one to quarterback this job,” “it's time to punt,” and “we're fourth and goal” to name a few. Even basketball contributes a few terms such as “full court press” (which is actually a defensive rather than an offensive strategy) and “it's a lay‐up.” Business articles and analyst commentaries are equally thickly littered with analogies to these three sports.