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Kyle Olmos
Dr. Jim Walz
March 30th, 2015
Speak Performance: Case Study

It is through Speak Performance, by Jim Walz, Ph.D., where I affectively learned

the proper use of metaphors and how anyone can become a better leader if they just focus
on aligning his or hers team with accurate values, which they agree on, that which will
lead the company and team to success. Metaphors can activate visions and mission
statements, processed goals and objectives, and literally align every aspect of an
organization in the direction it would like to go. Within Speak Performance, Jim Walz
shares a four-step process: 1. Metaframing: Having attributes be what structures the
metaphors. 2. Metamining: Deconstructing to identify the elements of a metaphor. 3.
Metaforming: Combining these elements to build new metaphors (Reconstruction &
Innovation). 4. Metaplying: Applying these new metaphors to transform the way we lead
our organizations (Application). The knowledge gained from the principles in this book
has been designed to help leaders develop exactly the stronger vision and mission
statements that which must be acted upon. Jim Walz states, Seeing your metaphor is
important and must be done before you can walk out the metaphor in your daily life.
Organizations are transformed mostly by how they do business, finding the ability to
compete in a global marketplace more appropriately than ever before.
Most of us in this world dont understand the concept of a metaphor or what it

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truly can do for someones life. Nevertheless, the metaphor we create that will support
our lives and business is not necessarily the one we should always keep. For example,
Jason and his record company encountered some difficult problems with their company
metaphor and it led them into frustration and brought problems within it as well. Jason
first realized that his company was in trouble by how the distributions of his products
were being handled. With their end cap displays not positioned like they were before,
meaning having first priorities, things were then being positioned lower on the shelves.
Also, their online sales were starting to suffer; he also noticed that the number of artists
that they had contracted have also decline once less than twenty percent of his artists
made the top 100 billboard rankings in all genres. Furthermore, Jason had also noticed
that with their products becoming unwanted, his employees were not working as hard.
They were doing things like playing video games, talking and texting on their cell
phones, and others just would sit around fiddling their thumbs. He was entering into a
comfortable like business that did what needed to be done only when the time was
needed.
Jason first compared his company to a few metaphors, like a Porsche speeding
down the Pacific Coast Highway, sunroof open, with Robin Trowler blasting on the radio.
He then also gives a metaphor of the straightaway that is coming up on the Eleven. He
states to the reader that it is like his future is beginning to open, it gave him a feeling that
something needed to succeed even more. He wanted his company to conquer like
skyscraper, which would make his record company pretty powerful and successful. He
compares the twists and turns on the road as the difficulties they might face in the future,
but with their hands on the wheel it is showing the fact that the company is ready to

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navigate the course more aggressively then just sitting around to wait. Nevertheless,
Jason knew this metaphor would not work because of his love for cars, and not making it
a teamwork approach, his company was then characterized by the prospects of being
sleek, factual and exotic.
Jason needed to figure out what exactly was happening with the company and
what attributes he thought the company possessed that they now know need to change.
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. No one was motivated to
do anything, they would mope about going to meetings and not pay attention so it lead to
Jason to having them all write down what they thought was going wrong with the
company. They wrote that their attributes were lethargic, unfocused, to big, not enough
motivation, no more joy, bureaucratic, indecisive, bound up, and too safe. Those
attributes werent going to improve the company due to it not have a focus that the whole
business agrees on.
While realizing that our lives could be like a metaphor, I began thinking what
mine could possibly be. First I began by looking at my attributes that I possessed after
reading the book. I now know that I have some bad habits that definitely impacted my
life poorly and they are procrastination, sometimes having no motivation, being lazy,
tired, grumpy, and always finding excuses to be on my phone. These negatives impact my
life in so many ways. I do not have the right mindset yet to get up and to move forward to
get done whats needed 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 dont really

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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 and then even when I start to write my
paper I am always on my phone texting or checking social media. It takes me twice as
long as it would have if I had concentrated on writing my paper when I scheduled to
apply it. I cant concentrate on one thing at a time, I always have to be moving and doing
something that entertains me. When I dont start my work with enough time it gives me
anxiety and stress and creates an environment that is bad personally and will effect the
people around me. When I am lazy others around me will then get lazy, 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. I want to send people looking
for something that is better for them and that will create hope, faith, and drive within their
life; not something that makes you grumpy, upset, angry, and lazy.
It will take a lot to concur these bad habits but I need to start by focusing on my
thought, by controlling my inputs, and changing the things that influence within me. I
will then have complete control over my surroundings and I will have great ideas to cover
up and destroy my troubles. This includes changing everything I hear, see, and do. I have
to now always 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 will take 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; we will not

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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 when I chose to change my attributes and my weaknesses, so must Jason
with his record company. In order to start developing a new focus and atmosphere for the
company Jason starts with finding a new metaphor to create a new environment in the
workplace. While Jason is out on a walk he comes across a group of kids playing 4square. He focuses on the big red bouncy ball as the main metaphor to hop into his new
and approved business. Nevertheless, Jim Walz states, 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 and then
he incorporates the metaphor into all aspects of the company including the mission
statement and the vision statement. He pops up the focus on the tennis ball regularly
within the company so that people will focus on the new metaphor and what they need to
do in order to achieve success. The original ball leaped Jason into focusing on the job
titles of other balls, He needed to create a sense of urgency in order to motivate others
with the need to change. (pg.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. Nevertheless, by moving into
these new approaches 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 (pg.113). With the creation of
the new structure, based on the metaphors of the tennis ball, the record label is now

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entering into a visible transformation. The company has created more strategic intent to
use its resources and capabilities to reach its vision.
Metaphors are a way of life and how you choose to use it for success. 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, comfort, and that
which will help others to build enough courage, just like Jason did with his record
company. With Jason turning his company around by using the metaphor it is now going
to create a better environment and business then he ever had. Furthermore, I just think it
is important for your team and work place to be on the same page, period, because if the
bouncing back and forth can actually come to a standing conclusion that everyone agrees
on, how then can the model of the business fail? When the companies metaphor is in
place the motivation will sink in and the accountable will be at peace. They did what
they felt they could do best while treating their artists fairly and honorably(pg.138). Just
doing your best is definitely the main key to open from a successful metaphor. When you
open a door of respect, faith, and guidance then the whole team would love to contribute
with a business who finally wants the success due to the vision, communication, and also
the motivated people that mold together such a powerful useful metaphor.