Strategy

Business is a Game- Try to Have Some Fun

Posted by Beau in Strategy | 2 Comments
Monopoly

Photo courtesy of Zzubnik

A few days ago, I got Chris Brogan’s email newsletter, where he talked about games we play as kids being preparation for skills we’ll need as adults. The examples he gave, like tag and hide-and-seek, were for more primitive skills like hunting and, well, hiding.

It got me thinking, though, about how many of the games that we start out playing as kids but continue to enjoy as adults utilize the same skills that help us in the business world.

I’m thinking of games like Monopoly, which requires skills like risk analysis, recognizing opportunities, cooperation with competitors, and a lot more. Chess is another obvious example, since it requires thinking many moves ahead, trying to anticipate your competition’s moves, and patience.

The funny thing is that even though these types of games aren’t nearly as overtly fun as kids’ games like tag and hide-and-seek, we still get a lot of enjoyment and satisfaction out of them. But if you sat someone down at work and said, “I’m going to have you do an exercise in risk analysis and patience,” do you think they’d be excited about it? Probably not, unless they’re some kind of masochist.

This idea got me thinking that we should start trying to recognize the challenging and rewarding parts of our work, especially when they reflect aspects of games I enjoy. This seems pretty doable, whether you’re working for yourself or somebody else. If you can get excited about kicking ass at an ultimately meaningless game like Monopoly, why wouldn’t you get excited about equally kicking ass at a much higher-stakes game like your business?

One important but empowering difference between business and the kinds of games we like to play for fun is that business doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game. If you’re not familiar with the term, it basically just means that one person wins, one person loses.

For me, zero-sum games are a paradox, because I’m uber-competitive while at the same time prone to feeling guilty about winning. So I get pissed if I lose while giving it my all, but I also won’t play to the best of my ability if I feel like I have an unfair advantage or think the other person isn’t having fun.

The beauty of the game of business is that if done right, everybody can win. You end up happy with getting paid, your customer ends up happy with getting something of value, and maybe even the world at large gets improved a little bit by your knowledge or product.

In my mind, it’s pretty cool that you can have all the enjoyment of challenging your brain to find ways to succeed, without having to worry about the crappiness of someone losing. Time to get out there and have some fun!

Don't Let Your Business Be Hold Music

Posted by Beau in Strategy | 3 Comments
The Man, the Myth, the (Crappy) Legend

The Man, the Myth, the (Crappy) Legend

Today I called my doctor’s office to make an appointment and had the distinct displeasure of being put on hold for close to 10 minutes. As is usually the case, for the entire wait I was subjected to godawful “smooth jazz” that made me want to hang up and switch doctors.

While being aurally assaulted by this tripe, I thought to myself, “Who actually likes this crap, and why is it on nearly every phone system in the US?” The more I thought about it, I started thinking that music like smooth jazz or Muzak are probably chosen less because lots of people like them, and more because they don’t overtly offend people (me excluded, apparently).

Unfortunately, many people run their businesses and personal brands with this latter mindset. We’ve become so afraid of offending anyone and possibly losing their business that we water our personalities down and try to keep things “plain vanilla” so we can be everything for everyone.

With the sheer amount of competition out there, this strategy just doesn’t work anymore. To stand out from the crowd, especially in online venues where people don’t know you personally, you’ve got to stand for something, even if that means offending or losing some of your potential market.

Smart marketers like Naomi Dunford of Ittybiz know this, and by being authentic and taking risks, they’re able to build passionate followings and get raving fans who line up to work with like-minded people. This doesn’t mean being deliberately offensive for shock value, it just means not being afraid to challenge convention or rock the boat.

Because let’s face it- there may be some people out there who actually like smooth jazz a little bit. The fact that Kenny G ever sold an album attests to this fact. But are they as passionately into smooth jazz (or other kinds of hold music) as much as sad teens are into emo, or Scandinavians are into death metal? I really doubt it, because hold music is specifically chosen to not take chances or be risky. That also means it’s totally interchangeable and forgettable. The same can’t be said for music that takes risks and makes its fans feel like they’re part of something special.

If you want your business to avoid being hold music, be willing to say some things that might turn some people off, or make it clear that you’re not the right provider for some customers. It’s OK, really. I’m probably never going to buy a country album, but not having my business doesn’t stop country artists from being ridiculously successful. If you’re willing to be authentic and focus your efforts on your tribe, not the masses, you’ll start building your fan base and making the right people like you a lot quicker than if you’re just out to not offend anybody.