Why useful definitions are critical for innovative thinking

Usain-Bolt-Jamaica-gold-medal-breaking-world-record-200m-Beijing-Summer-Olympics-August-20-2008

The 2024 Paris Olympics came and went in a whirlwind. If you blinked, you might have missed it. But the event still managed to reignite an old debate in the office.

What is a sport?

This question doesn’t involve intangible assets. Or does it? In a way, getting definitions right is part of protecting intangible assets and innovating new product ideas. For example, what does your invention do, precisely? How is it different from other products? Being clear on the exact definition of a patent is part of defending intellectual property.

So, with that in mind, let’s have some fun and see why everyone is usually wrong about what they call a “sport.”

Most people seem to think a sport is anything that involves physical exertion, points and a goal. But some were left scratching their heads when the Olympics controversially included break dancing in its line-up (it was a temporary event). It made them wonder why events like gymnastics, sprinting and basketball are considered to be on the same level, as well.

Isn’t this a category mistake? Aside from physical exertion, points and a goal, what precisely connects break dancing with basketball? And how is the pommel horse the same as U19 football? Even outside of the Olympics, people often play “sports” like golf or fishing on the weekend, while others enjoy boxing or baseball. The same question applies here: how does fishing fit into the same category of “sport” along with baseball? Something doesn’t feel right.

As the philosopher Ludwig von Wittgenstein said, most debates could be solved if people just agreed to a definition of words.

In that light, we humbly suggest that an activity can only be considered a sport if defence is involved.

Fishing, therefore, isn’t a sport unless the fisherman dives into the water to wrestle the 600lb marlin and shove a hook into its mouth. At least then the fish is given a chance to defend itself. Otherwise, the fisherman has his boat, a hook and bait – but all the fish has is hunger. That’s not a sport. It is obviously exhausting to catch a marlin, but there’s no defence in fishing.

Similarly, golf isn’t a sport. Golfers just walk around a manicured field, hitting a ball with a club. They can even do it while drunk (as many do). Practically speaking, what’s stopping a golfer from landing the ball in the hole? Nothing! We’re not denying that golf requires plenty of skill. But there’s no defence involved in the game, so it can’t be a sport.

Of course, if the rules of golf were tweaked so that another player stood 10 metres away and started running the moment the golfer took a swing, ready to make a tackle – that would be a sport. Adding defence means the golfer would need to dodge the tackler while also trying to hit the ball.

Surprisingly, chess is a sport under this definition. The goal of chess is to capture the king. Both players try to stop this from happening by moving their pieces around the board. Tennis is also a sport since the opponent is trying to defend from having the ball bounce twice on their side of the net.

It also means that politics is a sport. After all, one party will attempt to enact the policies it believes will create a better world. If other parties don’t agree with those policies, they will “defend” against them by campaigning to have them removed or changed.

But what happens to gymnastics or the 100m sprint under this definition? Those activities certainly require superhuman strength and skill and calling them “activities” doesn’t sound good enough. Gymnastics has an impressive array of points, world records, coaches, technology and myriad other factors that don’t apply to, say, walking your doggie down the road. Gymnastics and running are different from most normal activities, so they deserve to be treated differently.

But where’s the defence in the 100m dash? No one is trying to stop a runner from crossing the finish line, so it can’t be a sport. Yet it’s far more than an “activity.”

In that case, the correct category for the 100m sprint would be to call it a “competition.” A competition is anything that has rules, points and a clear winner/loser. Gymnastics, golf, running, darts, swimming are all competitions.

Said differently, every sport can also be a competition, but not all competitions can be a sport.

We can push this logic further by talking about the layer above “sport” as well. What should we call an activity that has a goal, physical exertion, points (perhaps) and a clear winner/loser – but no rules?

The correct term for that is “fighting.”

Under this definition, boxing is a sport, but it is not fighting. Boxing may look like fighting, but it still has rules. Boxers can’t punch certain areas of the opponent’s skull and there’s no eye-poking. Even bare-knuckle boxers must follow rules. The entire goal of fighting is to defeat the opponent by any means necessary, and as quickly as possible. The presence of rules means not even MMA is fighting. It’s a tough sport, sure, but it’s still a sport nonetheless.

If you want to get really scary with this logic, consider that politics has a well-known pathway to advance from being a sport with rules towards … something we call “war.” War has all the same goals as politics, but no rules. In fact, any war that follows rules is just a large-scale sport. If you’re not allowed to defeat an opponent using any means necessary, then you’re playing a sport.

We hope this little thought experiment was useful. It’s a bit different to what we usually write at EverEdge. The takeaway is that setting proper definitions helps clarify what you’re doing and reveals new opportunities that couldn’t be seen under the previous paradigm – which may lead to valuable innovation.

Innovation is a key intangible asset. That means it’s important to keep thinking and rethinking, especially about definitions. You never know what gems you might find!

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