Dear Members and Constituents,
Last night, after hearing from a friend he might need to
re-schedule our lunch today, I indicated that would be fine, of course, and
that we should “play it by ear”. His response? “Play it by ear? Just
remember that it takes two to tango, and that when the music stops we don’t
want to end this lunch on a bad note J”.
This provided a brilliant insight into the metaphors we use every day. It got
me thinking we ought to be deliberate in keeping our analogies in the same
realm for any given conversation. I’ve sometimes chuckled to myself when
someone mentions we’re on a “fourth down and long situation” and we therefore
need to “knock this one out of the park” (to which I’m tempted to respond,
“don’t you mean this is the bottom of the ninth so we need to push it over the
goal line?”). Bottom line (accounting), once you pull an analogy out of the bag
(magic), be prepared to stay in the same domain (feudal politics?). If you
speak of someone as being a diamond in the rough, stick with jewelry and
mention the fact she wants to build a gold-pated network. If you observe two
people are cut from the same cloth, you might tailor your message to observe
they both believe a stitch in time can save nine. And so on. So, put on your
game face and advance down the field to score yourself a donut.
Happy Friday!
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