Is Your Business A Game Worth Playing?

What is it about a game that is so enthralling? Why do people spend so much time and effort playing games? Well, there are many answers to that question, but there is one that has a profound lesson for leaders, entrepreneurs, and managers. People enjoy games because there is a clear objective; they know what is expected of them and what is required to win. Imagine a game where there were no rules and no clear way of winning. How much would you enjoy a game like that? Imagine trying to get your friends excited about playing. You would probably get some very strange looks and some questions like:

“Sooo, what are we supposed to be doing?”

“How do we know if we are winning?”

“What’s the point?”

Eventually they will probably walk away from the game shaking their heads and thinking “What a waste of time.”

So, how does this description of a game apply to your business? You’re not playing a game… or are you? I would submit to you that every organization is a game. It can either captivate the players or leave them shaking their heads. You, as the leader, have the responsibility to make it a game that captivates.

Have you had employees lose their original zest for the work? Are they now just “marking time” or working only for the paycheck? If so, you can look at them and complain about their lack of commitment … or you can look at yourself. Did you give them the rules and communicate to them a game worth playing? Are there clear objectives to your game? Do they know what their part is in meeting those objectives? Can they tell if they are progressing or just treading water?

So what are you going to do? Keep “motivating” them? Push them harder? Coerce them? It won’t work. What will work is to provide an environment where people are constantly challenging themselves to do better because they know the objective of the game and have clear standards to hold themselves to. Doing this, it will create an environment where people wake up every morning looking forward to playing "The Game" in your organization.

Managers and leaders often make the mistake of assuming that those people who are working with them do it strictly for the benefits or for the money. If you talked to them you might find a much different story. People are looking for something that they can be a part of, something bigger than themselves, an objective they can believe in and work towards achieving – a game that excites them.

A word of warning:

If you are not committed to your own game and to following the rules yourself, others will detect this and their efforts will be half-hearted.

You must believe it.

Be committed to it.

And then communicate it
_____________________________________________________________________________________________Is your business a game worth playing? For more information about how to enhance your business, visit my page Who & Why or send me an email at sethgetz@gmail.com.