“There are no boundaries anymore. There are no seasons. There is not a solid stop signaling the end of one sport and the beginning of another.”

Introduction:

Last blog we talked about the importance of diversity in youth sports AND in business. This week we are going to talk about BOUNDARIES. 

But first, a little about me.....yup, that's me over there ->

Has anyone taken the Strengths Finders test?  

One of my top 5 strengths is Learner. Which means I love the process of learning.  

I always want to learn, develop and change. I get excited about starting new projects and being expected to learn a lot in a short period of time. I get giddy just thinking about it! 

I have experienced the giddiness of learning in both my professional life and personal life.  

In my professional life, I am a process improvement consultant (Process Ninja). There is no better job for me! I am continuously presented with short project assignments in drastically different industries, from mortgage to general contracting to engineering, and I’m expected to learn a lot about new subjects in a short period of time. I thrive on this!! I CANNOT go to work every day and do the same thing over and over again. That is soul sucking to me.  

In my personal life, deciding to be a youth hockey coach opened a whole new world of learning for me!! What could be better!!! So much excitement!! 

Sports:

Throughout my years of coaching, I have come across great articles, websites and podcasts to fuel my passion for learning.

This year, I decided to not only learn for myself, but to also share my learning with others.

Throughout my daughter’s hockey season, I sent messages to my parent group about various topics I came across that were extra inspiring or interesting.

One of the common themes I came across was the dwindling concept of an offseason, taking breaks and multisport athletes.

In the youth sports world, things have gotten a bit crazy! And not in a good way. Early specialization in one sport has become the norm, rather than the exception.

I thought it was an ice hockey thing. And I thought it was a Minnesota State of Hockey thing. However, the more I look around, the more I see that it is an epidemic among all youth sports as well.

There are multiple players within our hockey association who play multiple sports year-round. There are no boundaries anymore. There are no seasons. There is not a solid stop signaling the end of one sport and the beginning of another.

At the beginning of my kids’ hockey journeys (which started in kindergarten), my family made the decision to not play organized hockey during the off season. We have stood behind that decision even though our kids are constantly being asked to play on various teams.

We say “No” to organized hockey from March-August and focus on playing other sports. We have also had to say “No” to organized baseball and lacrosse from September-March, so we can focus on hockey.

The lack of seasons and boundaries has sucked some of the joy out of youth sports and has led to a sense of overwhelm among the kids and families.

Youth sports have become “professionalized”, meaning many well-meaning adults are encouraging and preaching year-round play in their specific sport.

This has put more emphasis on results, and less emphasis on the fun and joyful aspects that youth sports can bring to our kids' lives.

So many folks within my youth sports world have fallen into the more is better trap. There seems to be this feeling of, “we can’t take a break, otherwise our child will fall behind.”

And this is not something that is happening elsewhere, it is happening in our backyards. I literally had a hockey mom say to me, “I pay way too much money on this sport for my kids to just go out there and have fun.” Her kids were 9, 7 and 4 at the time. It breaks my heart.

There is a ton of research out there pushing against this more is better norm.

(A few articles – What makes a champion?, Offseason Recipe for Long-Term Development, 70% of kids drop out of youth sports by age 13)

However, these messages don’t seem to get through all the noise of the ‘more is better’ and the ‘fear of falling behind’ buzz.

Youth sports are continuing to trend towards more, more, more, more, regardless of the research warning against it.

This has been negatively impacting our kids’ mental and physical health and that of our families.

I do not understand why we don’t stop.

Business

In the same way that ‘more, more, more’ is taking over the youth sports world, it has taken over our business lives as well (and has been doing so for years).

Many organizations still push for longer hours. They still value the employees who ‘give them their all’. The employees who show up early and stay late. The employees who will answer an email at 11pm and another one at 7am.

Why are we continuing to value long work hours? Why are we continuing to believe that busy makes us better. Busy makes us important.

And just like in youth sports, the research points to long working hours having a negative impact on our lives and our productivity. All you have to do is google “impacts of long work hours” and you will be presented with an endless list of studies pointing to the negative effects.

There is even a study out there by John Pencavel of Stanford University that proves that your productivity drops drastically after 55 hours of work. So drastically that you don’t accomplish anything of value after 55 hours. So, if you are working 70 hours, you are not producing 15 extra hours of value, you are producing zero extra hours of value.

And yet, many of us still work those 70 hours. Why?

We have the technology to get things done faster and more efficiently. I prove that day in and day out with my process improvement work.

I have updated processes from 3 days to 2 hours. From 8 hours to 20 minutes. I have countless examples of how businesses can accomplish just as much (and often more) with drastically fewer hours.

And yet, just like in the youth sports world, the proof that things can be done differently does not seem to be having a large impact.

I still come across many business leaders and employees who brag about the number of hours they work. Who brag about how important they are because they can’t get out of the office in less than 12 hours a day.

And just like in youth sports, this is not something that is happening ‘elsewhere’. It is happening in our backyards. I see it in conversations I have with my neighbors, with my family and with my business clients.

It scares me. Is it ever going to end? Is the message ever going to shift to quality of work over quantity of hours? I say often: “Quantity of hours ≠ Quality of work”.

When are we going to start valuing solid boundaries between our work and non-work lives? And when are we going to start honoring seasons again in youth sports?

BOUNDARIES is one of the most vital values and skills we can teach and display to our employees (and our children).

I'm looking forward to running into more and more individuals, leaders and organizations who value and cherish the 40 hour (or less) work week.

I’m looking forward to observing leaders who tell their employees to leave for the day. Leaders who remind their employees that they have something to go home to and whatever is on their desk right now, can wait.

Is anyone else with me?

This blog is connected to the element of Boundaries, having solid boundaries set up and honored enables great teams to thrive.

To learn more about the 6 Back to Basics Elements, click here.