Taylor Hallahan
March 23, 2014
Case Study Analysis
Busn Policy and Strategies

“Seeing your metaphor is important and must be done before you can walk out the metaphor in your daily life.” Most of us in this world don’t understand the concept of a metaphor or what it can do for your life. We go day to day with the same routines and nothing ever changes. We are caught up in what we are suppose to do and don’t realize that we aren’t getting anywhere or when we do it is usually too late. The metaphor we create throughout our lives isn’t necessarily the one we should always keep. Jason and his record company encountered some difficult problems with their metaphor. They realized that their company wasn’t working well with the metaphor they had chosen; they made some changes, and created a whole new metaphor for their business. In “Speak Performance” by Jim Walz, Jason uses many metaphors for his record company, realizes that they aren’t working, and changing his view on the company. This corresponds into our own life’s and made me think about what metaphors I have and how I can change them if they aren’t helping me reach my main vision in life. Jason first came to realize that his company was in trouble by the distribution of his products. Things were being positioned lower on the shelves, and they were not getting end cap displays like they had in the past. Also, their online sales were starting to suffer. He also noticed that his artist’s numbers were dropping. Less the twenty percent of his artists made the top 100 billboard rankings in all genres. Jason noticed that not only were there products becoming less wanted his employees weren’t working as hard. They were doing things other then work like playing video games, some were on their cell phones, and others just sit around texting their friends and family. His company was sliding down and he was just now realizing it. Jason first compared his company to a Porsche speeding down the pacific cost highway, sunroof open, with Robin Trowler blasting at full volume. He then compares the straightaway he can see on the road coming up out of turn 11; which is like his future beginning to open. He wanted his company to conquer giants, which would make the record company pretty powerful and successful. He compares the streets turns as the difficulties they might face in the future but they had their hands on the wheel and their ready to navigate the course aggressively. Little did Jason know this metaphor would not be the right one for his company that is tumbling towards the ground. Jason pictured himself in the pole position and heading into the first turn. Because of Jason’s love for cars his company was characterized by the idea of sleek, fact and exotic. Then after years of crossing the finish line ahead of the pack, it seemed like their pistons were misfiring. Jason needed to figure out what exactly was going wrong with the company and what attributes he thought the company possessed and how they needed to change them. One of the attributes that they lacked were they had lost touch with their vision. They had fallen into routines that lacked energy, initiative, and creativity. “They were now the giants that others wanted to slay.” No one was motived to do anything. They would mope about going to meetings and not pay attention. Jason had them all write down what they thought was going wrong with the company which in my opinion was a great idea. They wrote that their attributes were lethargic, unfocused, to big, not motivating, no more joy, bureaucratic, indecisive, bound up, and too safe. Those attributes weren’t going to improve the company. While realizing that your life is like a metaphor, I began thinking what mine could possibly be. First I began by looking at my attributes that I possessed right now. I realized that I had some bad attitudes and habits that can greatly impact my life. These consist of procrastination, not caring, not motivated, lazy, tired, grumpy, tired, and always on my phone. These impact my life in so many ways. I don’t have the right mindset to get up and do what needs to be done in order to construct my life in the best way possible. I find myself waiting till the last minute to write a paper or do my homework and by then I don’t really want to even do it. I keep pushing it back further and further because I want to do something else like watch Netflix or go out with my friends. I always say I will do things on time and get a head start but that never ends up happening I push everything back further and further until it is due the next day. Then even when I start to write my paper I am always on my phone texting or checking social media, that I can’t even finish my paper or assignment in a timely manner. It takes me twice the amount of time it would have if I had concentrated on writing my paper only. I can’t concentrate on one thing at a time, I always have to be moving and doing something that entertains me. When I don’t start my work with enough time it gives me really bad anxiety and stress and creates a bad environment for me plus the people around me. When I am lazy I create laziness in the people around me, if they see me slacking off and being on my phone that tempts them to do the same exact thing. All these attributes create problems in my professional career and my ministry. If I have bad habits that I show in my work place and how my attitude is towards work people aren’t going to want to be a Christian if I act the way I do. I give Christianity a bad name in the way my actions are. Speaking the word of God to others and giving them insight into what Christianity is about isn’t just by the words you speak it is by your actions as well. If my actions speak badly then people aren’t going to want to be involved in a faith that gives off that presence. I send them looking for something that is better and creates hope, faith, and drive in someone’s life; not something that makes you grumpy, upset, angry, and lazy. If I want to create a good environment in my work place it has to begin with my actions. It may take a lot to overcome these bad habits but I need to start by gaining control over my mind by controlling my inputs and changing the things that influence me. This includes changing everything I hear, see, and do. I have to continually do this until my actions truly represent my desired goals in life. I also need to create a vision for myself. To create a vision it takes focus and concentration. I have to block out the distractions and focus on the ability and willingness to concentrate on what needs to be done. In life we settle for what takes the least amount of energy, information, and work. Which means we are not focusing in on our vision, which means we will not fulfill our purpose in life. That is the complete opposite of what I want to do with my life. I must break my bad habits in order to continue with my vision. I must find the opposites of my attributes I listed above and create metaphors for both and apply those to my life. Just like I choose to changes my attributes and overcome my weaknesses so does Jason with his record company. In order to create a new focus and atmosphere for the company Jason starts with finding a new metaphor to create a new environment in the workplace. One that more represents what they are trying to achieve. While Jason is out on walk he comes across a group of kids playing 4-square. This is a typical game for children that involve a big red bouncy ball. He realizes that a ball is the perfect new metaphor for his company. “This metaphor needs to inspire, give direction, provide boundaries, and establish how they would work together in the future.” He first comes up with all the ways the ball compares to the company. Then he incorporates the metaphor into all aspects of the company like the mission statement and the vision statement. He brings up the tennis ball regularly so that people will focus on the new metaphor and what they need to do in order to achieve success. “He needed to create a sense of urgency in order to motivate others with the need to change.” (101). With changes comes more opportunities for the company. One of the first things he did was create an audit of all the jobs descriptions, communication channels, and organizational structure. And by doing this they can figure out a way to reduce there costs and increase their efficiencies. “They ended up creating a series of ball-type images on trajectories reflecting speed and agility as the core of their new brand” (113). With the creation of the new structure based on the metaphors of the tennis ball the record label is probably the first most visible transformation. The company has created more strategic intent to use its resources and capabilities to reach its vision. Metaphors are almost like a way of life and how you choose to live your life. If your life is like a cactus in the hot summer desert you probably aren’t on the right tract. You must build on your vision in life and bless your community with grace and motivation. Your metaphor should be something from which people will find strength, gain comfort, and build courage just like Jason did with his record company. He changed the company around and his metaphor is creating a better environment and business then he ever had.