Although comparing the game of golf to life may not be new (Remember Michael Murphy’s Golf in the Kingdom?), what is often neglected is just how much we can learn about ourselves–our coping, our behavior and even our relationships–from what happens on the golf course. More about that in a minute, but back to Adam’s golf game.
It’s clear and no surprise that his late and rushed approach to the round has cost him at least the back-to-back double bogies to start the round. But a closer look at this hurry up approach to the game reveals much more.A simple 15 minute warm up routine where Adam might hit 15 to 20 range balls, a dozen or so putts and chips would help put Adam in a more relaxed frame of mind and his body would be in game mode.
Besides what we now know about Adam’s golf performance, the golf course offers a real world situation in which to actually observe someone use the wide range of coping skills that a round will require. Perhaps the only thing better than on-course strategy and problem solving to determine why someone is having difficulties with problem solving at work, for example, would be to follow them around on the job, and that’s just not very feasible for all sorts of reasons. The extensive sampling of behaviors gathered during a round of golf provides a wealth of information to better understand a person’s coping style and skills.
Of course, it’s necessary to put what you observe on a golf course in the proper off the course context for it to truly be useful in understanding off-course behavior. For example, is Adam’s last minute arrival at the course and rush to the tee without warm-up the result of an overly busy schedule of work and family that doesn’t afford him the time he wants and needs to prepare? Or is that approach simply characteristic of Adam? It doesn’t take long in conversation with Adam—a general practice lawyer who works in a small law firm with four other attorneys—to understand that getting things done at the last minute is indeed his style. Getting to the course right at his tee time seems no different to him then getting that motion filed with the court by just beating the deadline. In fact, he talks with pride about the success of his “just-in-time” approach to things. When queried about the outcome of this approach being the two double bogies he suffered on the first two holes of his round, Adam focuses on how he turned things around on the back nine with two birdies and a string of pars.
Further conversation with Adam reveals that, although he always manages to meet his deadlines at work, his behavior is a real source of irritation to his partners in the firm. Much as those in his foursome found themselves nervously looking at their watches and wondering if he was going to make it, Adam acknowledges that the partners in his law firm aren’t thrilled with his just-in-time approach. This is especially so when they are working on a case together. And that puts a strain on his relationships in the workplace. Most lawyers, especially trial lawyers, believe that solid preparation and planning is essential to success. Although Adam indicates that no one questions his lawyering skills and work performance (“I can always rise to the challenge,” he says confidently.), we have to wonder whether part of that “challenge” isn’t the need to recover from a less than optimally prepared rocky start much as was the case with his round of golf.
Adam’s preparation routine, or lack of it, clearly has a negative affect on his golf game. But a little further digging reveals this just-in-time approach follows him both on and off the course. If he is open and willing to learn from it and spend some time developing better preparation habits, Adam may actually find that he can improve his golf game as well as his productivity and even relationships in his workplace. It’s a cliché, of course, to say that you can learn a lot about a person by playing golf with them. The real question, though, is what can you learn about yourself from your game. With a little time spent looking closely at your on-course behavior and its effects on your game, you just might find that you can turn those bogies into birdies on the course……and in life.
Tell us what your preparation routine says about you.
