Inside Baseball

I'm not much of a sports fan, but one sports analogy I use pretty consistently is the term "inside baseball." I use it to describe a situation when I'm going into too much jargon and detail in front of an audience that doesn't understand or doesn't need such an in-depth explanation. I'm even self-conscious about doing it, often warning people before plowing deep into the picayune that what I'm about to say may be too much "inside baseball" for them.

Never, however, did I think that the very name of my association's industry would be too much "inside baseball" for some people.

I mean, in a way, I did. As the staff executive of the trade association that represents the fluid power industry I have long gotten used to explaining at cocktail parties not just what an association is but what "fluid power" means. "Does that have something to do with hydro-electric dams?" is the most common inquiry on this front. No, I have to explain, fluid power is an umbrella term that encompasses both hydraulic and pneumatic technologies. They both use a fluid to transmit power through a system. For hydraulics, that fluid is a liquid. For pneumatics, it is air.

It happens so frequently that I knew it was something I had to address when I was recently given the chance to present on career opportunities in the fluid power industry to a group of U.S. Army service men and women who would soon be returning to civilian life.

"How many of you know what fluid power is?"

It was the first sentence out of my mouth. And, as I expected, not a single hand in the room went up. I was ready for that. My presentation began with a basic definition of the term, a schematic of a simple fluid power system, and several examples of the technology at work in the real world. But before advancing the slide, a strange inspiration struck me.

"How many of you know what hydraulics is?"

Every hand in the room went up.

"How many of you have had hydraulic oil on your hands?"

Every hand in the room went up again.

And that's really when it struck me. After all those explanations at all those cocktail parties, it hadn't really sunk in until that moment in front of our nation's soldiers. Fluid Power, the very industry I represent and to which my career is dedicated to strengthening, is too much "inside baseball" for practically everyone on the planet.

The term works well in our industry, but for everyone coming at us from the outside, "hydraulics and pneumatics" is the way to go.

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This post first appeared on Eric Lanke's blog, an association executive and author. You can follow him on Twitter @ericlanke or contact him at eric.lanke@gmail.com.

Image Source
http://citythatbreeds.com/2015/06/ctb-podcast-105-hot-inside-baseball-chat/