I learned something new last week that I just love.

I had the pleasure of being in London during the excitement over the European Football Championships this year, an all-English final: Chelsea (the team supported by most of London proper) versus Manchester United.

It turned out to be a great game tied 1 to 1 after regulation, decided in a nail-biting shoot out, marked by rain, tears, amazing athleticism, and one ignoble fall. Sports at its best. (Manchester won.)

Heres what I loved. It turns out that the way they decide who will take those final shots at the goal who will stand out there alone for all the world to see, for a few life-changing seconds, poised on the brink of an indelible future as either hero or goat is that the coach asks the team who would like to step up. Its a volunteer activity!

Can you imagine the most important game of the year on the line down to a do or die situation and the coach asks for volunteers! Who wants to step up?

Not the sort of top-down, Im the seasoned coach/boss; Ill use my greater experience to figure out the strategy that many business experts would advise. Not a statistics-based, lets choose those with the best record and presumed highest probability that other sports are adopting. But a real bottoms up, whos up for doing this now?

In this game, at least one guy stepped up who had not yet touched the ball all game came right off the bench for the big moment. (I was so amazed at first that I thought I understood the announcer to be saying that hed come out of the stands now that would really be incredible. Can you picture it: fans, jumping down to don a jersey and step up!) But that turned out not to be the case he was a member of the team and had subbed in earlier in the game for a short time, but never came in contact with the ball. Now, in the limelight, I was relieved when he scored.

Another poor guy stepped up, slipped on the wet grass and missed the goal not with a block by the goalie just a humiliating fall. The talk of the town the day after was whether he showed good judgment in stepping up.

And, one of the teams ran out of guys who had stepped up they were forced to dragoon their last couple players. Its amazing how much more nerve wracking it felt to know the guy in the hot seat had not really wanted to be there.

So, Ive been thinking could we, should we use this same approach in some clutch business situations? Rather than assigning a team to work on the critical product launch, ask who wants to step up? Rather than choosing the team leader, ask for volunteers? Rather than sending the most senior sales person in to negotiate with a key account, ask who is hungry for the challenge?

I personally like the idea. Certainly there are times when I feel more up for the challenge than others more focused, more personally committed even better rested.

Are there situations in which you are asking for volunteers today? Will the evolution of corporations toward more horizontal organizational structures give us the opportunity to apply this football practice to business? What do you think?

Who wants to step up?