The E-Myth: How Do You Get People to Do What You Want?

Twitter Summary:  How do you get people to do what you want?  It comes down to feelings.

Principle

So I’ve written a few posts about some key points of Michael Gerber’s book The E-Myth over the last few weeks.  I’ve written about the difference between abdicating and delegating, how creating a system of doing business is the solution to most small business problems, and how relying on systems helps ordinary people do extraordinary things.  Today I want to segue into a logical follow up to the systems posts.  Once you have your systems set up for your small business, the key question then becomes, how do you get people to execute the systems you’ve developed?  Or in other words, how do you get people to do what you want?

Gerber writes that the degree to which people “do what you want” is equal to the degree to which they buy into your vision, and the degree to which people buy into your vision has absolutely nothing to do with them, but everything to do with how well you communicate your vision.  Gerber suggests it’s best to communicate that vision clearly at the very beginning before the work begins.  So if your people aren’t committed to the vision, more work needs to put towards effectively communicating that vision.

How Do You Get People to Do What You Want and Making Connections

I fully believe in this principle.  I think so many organizations flounder because beyond the leadership no one else really has a clear understanding of the vision.  So for me, the focus of leadership in any organization needs to be to consistently reiterate that crystal clear vision.  Obviously, this is after all the systems have been put into place and the machine is up and running.

However, I don’t believe the proper communication of vision is only through words, power point slides, or memos.  That will help to explain what you want them to do, but it won’t inspire them to do it.  In reality you can’t compel anyone to do anything without taking away their freedom.  The most effective way to “get people to do what you want” is to make them feel how important it is.  Create the conditions that allow people to feel the significance of what you’re asking them to do.  If you can do that, you won’t have to motivate anyone to do anything.  You will find self-motivated people surprising you with their dedication to the vision.

I’ve been lucky to have lived this principle with my band Upstanding Youth (UY).  How do you get 4-5 guys to get together at least once a week to practice, gig 4 times a month, sacrifice time and money, and to hardly (if ever) get paid and all of this over a 10 year span?  How did I “get them to do what I want” as the leader of the group?  I didn’t “get them to do” anything.  All I did was create the conditions to let them feel what I’ve felt as a musician since I was a teenager, the magic of sharing the power of music with others and see the happiness that can create; the rest they did themselves.  I shared with them my love of music.  I told them about it and then shared the experience with them.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had to pull teeth every now and then.  But by and large no one in UY has ever been there or made sacrifice because they were coerced to be there.

Watch the following clip of one of our gigs from 2007 when we opened for the band Reel Big Fish in Honolulu, Hawaii.  Notice a few things during the clip: how the crowd sang along to our lyrics in the intro, how much fun the crowd was having during the song, the amount of fun we were having ourselves on stage.

For me personally, every time a crowd sings along to this song I want to give up every other ambition I’ve had in my life and only do music.  The time spent practicing, driving around, recording, planning, writing the music, booking shows over the phone, all of it is so small in comparison to the feeling of sharing music you’ve created with other people who enjoy it deeply.

From moments like this video clip the vision of why  music is important and what I’m willing to sacrifice becomes clear because I can see and hear what it’s doing to and for other people.  And in that moment everyone I’m working with in the band has that exact same understanding because they’re feeling it too.  We become united in our efforts to sacrifice because together we’ve felt the significance of it.  Without that, bands don’t stay together for over 10 years and make it through the things UY has.  Without it, organizations crumble.

So the question, “how do you get people to do what you want,” has a very simple answer.  You have to get them to feel it.  The stronger they feel it, the more dedicated they are to the vision.  The weaker their connection to that feeling, the weaker their link to the vision.  And that is hard to do with a memo, power point presentation, or anything that is not based on a person to person experience

So What?

Try to cultivate the conditions that allow those around you to feel the significance of what you’re doing.  You’re role in the organization is irrelevant when it comes to your ability to communicate the vision.  You don’t have to be a leader to help others feel deeply.  So make and effort to get away from the company slogans, the memos, and the packaged presentations regarding your vision and simply communicate the feelings associated with why it’s so important.  The more clearly you’ve communicated that vision and the stronger the feelings you’ve shared, the more united you will be in your actions to “get people to do what you want.”

Next Weeks Post: The last post on The E-Myth will be about how your small business should provide your customer unique access they can’t get anywhere else.

PS If you’ve read this far, here’s a great quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupery to summarize this post.