It seems there's hardly a coach or superstar who hasn't built a lucrative sideline turning games into metaphors for life's other contests, particularly business. The appeal, of course, is that despite the self-parodying excesses of jock talk, the comparison works. Performing well in business requires talent and imagination, as does sport.
Game plans are crucial, but so is the ability to change.
And there's always someone keeping score. The problem is that the advice often is too obvious to sustain entrepreneurs much beyond dessert at the Rotary luncheon. After all, it's hard to argue that building individual self-esteem and encouraging teamwork aren't swell ideas. Maybe it's time, then, to look for ideas outside the mainstream. But it may be his special combination of martial arts and entrepreneurial success that gives him an unusual prism for business ideas.