Michael Gerber's Business Development Program: Your People Strategy, Step 5, part 4.

Michael Gerber, pp. 203-206, sets out 8 rules of his game:

1. "Never figure out what you want your people to dl and then try to create a game out of it." The game has to come first.

2. "Never create a game for your people you're not unwilling to play yourself."

3. "Make sure there are specific ways of winning the game without ending it."

4. "Change the game from time to time--the tactics, not the strategy."

5. "Never expect the game to be self-sustaining. People need to be reminded of it constantly."

6. "The game has to make sense."

7. "The game needs to be fun from time to time."

8. "If you can't think of a good game, steal one."

There you are, your people strategy. The game is outlined in your operations manual. Implement this game in your business, really implement it, along with all the other things, and you're business will thrive. Believe me.

What do you think of this? The goal is to produce more skilled entrepreneurs. Does this help? Tell me. Post a comment. I'd like to know. And follow me on Twitter.com.

Entrepreneurship informs all of my professional activities. Entrepreneurial ideas are their life's blood. For my ideas on entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for my ideas on writing and publishing, go to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com.

Michael Gerber's Business Development Program, Step 5: Your People Strategy, Part 3.

Gerber sets up this discussion by using the metaphor of a game. Here's what he says on p. 202:

People--your people--do not simply want to work for exciting people. They want to work for people who have created a clearly defined structure for acting in the world. A structure through which they can test themselves and be tested. Structure is called .

.This one kind of slid by me the last few times I went over this material, but the idea of a game got me this time. I've been thinking a lot about people who play virtual games, and it's right. They play because they want a defined structure. The world's a mess, so millions of them are turning to virtual reality for a world.

Here's what he says on p. 203.

The game your business will play can't simply be captures on the written page. It must be seen if it is to work. It must be experienced.

It is--first, last, and always--about how you act.

[Your] words will become hollow if the game is a contrived one.

The game can't be created as a deice to enroll your people. It can't become cynical if it's to provide your people with what they need in order to come alive while playing it.

The game has to be real. You have to mean it.

The game is a measure of you.

How you act in the game establishes how you will be regarded by other players.

This is what virtual games do. They provide a structure with clearly defined rules within a benevolent dictatorship.

So what you're going to do is create that benevolent dictatorship in the real world. You have to think out the code of conduct, what they're to do, etc. All of this communicated through an operations manual that define what people do. [pp. 202-203]

What do you think of this? The goal is to produce more skilled Entrepreneurs.Does this help? Tell me. Post a comment. I'd like to know. And follow me on Twitter.com.

Entrepreneurship informs all of my professional activities. Entrepreneurial ideas are their life's blood. For my ideas on entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for my ideas on writing and publishing, go to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com.

Michael Gerber's Business Development Program: Step 5, Your People Strategy, part 2

Here's the idea behind the work, according to Gerber, and he's right. It's stated on p. 201 and has three parts:

1. "The Customer is not always right, but whether he is or not, it is our job to make him feel that way."

2. "Everyone...is expected to work toward being the best he can possibly be at the tasks he's accountable for. When he can't do that, he should act like he is until he gets around to it. And if he's unwilling to act like it, he should leave."

3. "The business is a place where everything we know how to do is tested by what we don't know how to do, and the conflict between the two is what creates growth, what creates meaning."

Absolutely true. If you follow Gerber's rules, you will have a great business, assuming that everything else goes okay.

What do you think of this? The goal is to produce more skilled entrepreneurs. Does this help? Tell me. Post a comment. I'd like to know. And follow me on Twitter.com

Entrepreneurship informs all of my professional activities. Entrepreneurial ideas are their life's blood. For my ideas on entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for my ideas on writing and publishing, go to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com.

Michael Gerber's Business Development Program, Step 5: Your People Strategy

Step 5 in Gerber's program is your people strategy, starting on p. 197.

Here, on p. 201, is an important thing to remember: You manage people by making sure that they understand "the idea behind the work they're being asked to do," and you make it clear that "the idea behind the work [is] more important than the work itself."

I've never worked in a place where I was just told what to do, but I can imagine the scenario Gerber lays out, where employees are just told what to do. There's no respect for the employee, just what the bosses want.

More on this tomorrow.

What do you think of this? The goal is to produce more skilled entrepreneurs. Does this help? Tell me. Post a comment. I'd like to know. And follow me on Twitter.com

Entrepreneurship informs all of my professional activities. Entrepreneurial ideas are their life's blood. For my ideas on entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for my ideas on writing and publishing, go to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com.