March Madness

Whether you are into sports or not, it's hard to ignore how much they impact our culture. That is on full display right now as we enter March Madness!

In 2023, an estimated 56 million adults in the United States filled out a bracket. This year, the number will likely be between 60 and 100 million, which begs the question, what makes March Madness such a big deal?

Today, I want to discuss two reasons I believe we are obsessed with this tournament and what those reasons can teach us about the value of our work!

1️⃣ The work is what makes the games matter more
2️⃣ People want to be a part of something bigger than themselves

Let’s start from the top…

The work is what makes the games matter more

Watching buzzer beaters in the NCAA tournament is as fun as it gets for a sports fan. The energy is electric. Remember this one? (sorry UNC fans).

Every single team in the field has poured their blood, sweat, and tears into reaching this opportunity. They have worked for countless hours. They have endured hard losses and celebrated great wins together throughout the season. It is because of the work, that these games just mean more!

The amount of joy (for the winning team) and devastation (for the losing team) is directly correlated to the amount of work they’d put into realizing the moment.

So why is it more rare to find this type of drama in our daily work? I think Simon Sinek hits on a big reason for it in his book, “The Infinite Game”. The premise of the book talks about how we try to measure business as a finite game, but in reality it is an infinite game. While we can win the year, a healthy business doesn’t have an end, it continues on an infinite timeline.

College teams kind of operate this way. The players may change every year, but the team continues. I think this is part of what creates such a special culture around March Madness. It blends the drama of this year’s championship with the appreciation of an infinite game.

I love this quote from Sinek, which provides a great segue to the second reason I believe people are obsessed with the NCAA Tournament.

People want to be part of something bigger than themselves

Whether you are hoping to win $100 bucks from the bracket challenge, cheering for your favorite team to win, or just in it for the memes, we are all looking to be a part of something special during the tournament run.

Last year, it was Jack Gohlke’s three-point barrage that helped Oakland upset Kentucky. This year there will be another story that connects us to the heart of the madness. That is the magic of March.

In our conversation about work, the question I have is, “why do so few people feel connected to their work?” In 2023, Gallup's State of the Global Workplace report found that only 31% of US employees are engaged, while 23% of employees globally are engaged.

My answer. Because we are failing to see how our work connects to something bigger than ourselves. Ironically, in an article about college basketball, I believe the transition from college into the professional world is when the YPT is most dangerous. The attention moves away from the team or the school, and shifts to you. We become obsessed with ourselves and our careers, instead of our teams and their achievements.

So as we step back into the work we’ve been called to do on a Monday, how do we get connected to something bigger than ourselves?

Here are three March themed thoughts to help you do just that as you start the week:

1. Play for your teammates —> thinking others first helps us see the bigger picture

2. Play for the front of the jersey —> your team is bigger than any one person

3. Play for the love of the game —> the game is bigger than a single team

Above all, don’t fall trap to the lies that our work doesn’t matter. Our work matters greatly! March Madness wasn’t created overnight. It was born out of a magic that forms when people care deeply about their work.

The impact of our work, no matter how mundane, has great potential. Show up today and work like it matters. Because it does! Enjoy the Madness this week, but instead of it being a welcomed distraction from your day job, let it be a great motivation for you to step into the work you’ve been called to do!

As always, please respond to this email if you’d like to talk and discuss anything from this or prior posts! And if you have any friends who you think might derive value from this - I’d love for you to share it with them.

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With Hope and Gratitude,

Alex