I’ve been reading Michael Gerber’s E-Myth Mastery to
see how his recommendations dovetail with systems thinking. He is, after all, a
systems thinker, and an intentional dreamer, looking at business as a whole system made up of many systems
or parts. Frequently, the parts don’t work fluidly together because we get so
mired in the day-to-day activities, we lose sight of the end goal….the reason
we started the business in the first place.
E-Myth Mastery goes beyond his first book, The
E-Myth, which is all about systems and planning, to help the entrepreneur
get back in touch with the passion, the vision, the dream....the reason for being an
entrepreneur. Then he applies what he calls “The Seven Essential Disciplines”
to the entrepreneurial planning and management process, which become a road map
for building a world class organization.
According to the author, “Building a World Class Company is
a commitment to the integration of passion, purpose and practice.”
In our practice, we go a step further by including a review of the external world outside your business as one of the steps in a total strategic management system. But I'll talk more about that in a future blog.
The first step in a holistic approach to your business is developing clarity of
purpose and connecting with your passion. This is perhaps the hardest part of
the process. You started your business because you thought you could produce a
better product or deliver a better service to your customers. Perhaps it’s because
you got tired of having someone else call the shots, telling you when, what and
where to do your work. That was the passion that got you started. Now, you’re
mired in all the day-to-day emergencies of meeting payroll, solving customer or
production problems, handling employee issues, and any number of other things
that keep you from doing what you love, yet have to be done in order for the
business to operate. Now, instead of a boss telling you what to do, it’s your
employees, your customers, and the very business itself, demanding more and
more of your time, and leaving you frustrated and exhausted. You’ve lot the
passion for the business. What happened?
According to Gerber, this is a common problem among
entrepreneurs. Even those who have followed his E-Myth systems, found
themselves so mired in running the systems and tracking their progress, they
feel
like gerbils running on a circular treadmill. Everything demands their
attention, and none of it is fun anymore.
Now is the time to take a step back, take a deep breath, get
away from the business for a little while, and give yourself time to THINK.
Yes, that ugly five-letter word, THINK. We’re so busy doing, we don’t take time
to just sit and think. Think about why you started the business. What is it really that you set out to do? Is it
just to repair shoes or was there a grander passion behind opening up that shoe
repair business? Was it to repair other people’s clothes or to clothe the world
with designs that flatter any body? Was it to repair computers because you have
a knack for understanding how they work? Or was it grander like Microsoft’s, to
envision a PC on every desktop? What was the spoken or unspoken vision you had when
you started your business?
What was the dream you set out to create?
The key to getting back in touch with your passion is to
understand the difference between passion and purpose. Passion is what calls
you to action. It’s the vision you have for the future you want to create. The
tingly feelings you get when you think about this grand idea. Purpose is HOW you
put that vision into action. It’s the WHAT that you do everyday. Vision is the
WHY.
Like the story of the three men who are laying bricks. When
asked what they are doing, the first man says he’s laying bricks. The second
says he is building a wall. The third man answers, I’m building a cathedral. That’s
a vision!
What are you building in your business…..a wall or a cathedral?
