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If you've ever seen a draw in tennis, you know that the seeding of players can have as much of an impact on the final outcome as anything else. It can almost dictate the final outcome. If a player has to handle too many tough matches, he starts to burn out and can no longer win the tournament.

 

If we look at the tennis lob, a player must respond when he is attacked. Companies are constantly being attacked by competitors (domestic and foreign), governments, labor, interest rate changes altering debt servicing, stock markets etc. To handle these attacks you have to be a good lobber. Now the tennis lob is different because it's defensive and you don't get to use it often. Each time you use it you have to re-invent it.

 

This high risk stratagem can limit employee burnout/overwork by coordinating peaks of workforce energy. By building on the aggregate high performance time and expertise zones more laxity can be allowed. This, in turn, can stimulate more creativity.

 

Looping is another strategy, which can be interpreted as organizing decision flows so as to match with people and targets of work. The loops are guesses of who will deliver loyal performances in which area of work. It's a dangerous game of cat and mouse between employees at different levels, almost like a circus of juggling and acrobatics.