TheBanyanTree: It's all a game

[Red Pepper]

I attended a management "ra ra" session last week, and was expecting to be
bored witless. However the occasion was just one more in a series of timely,
thought-provoking messages from the universe. If you recall my last post,
I'm going through that (never-ending) process of mulling over my life's
work, even my destiny if you will. (For those of you who are also going
through this, read this book - "Do Less, Achieve More" by Chin-Ning Chu)

The facilitator refreshingly used an holistic approach to help us develop
our company vision, which prompted me to start thinking about my vision for
myself. I won't go into everything he covered, but one of the most
interesting points he made was that people want to be involved in a "game".
This is a new one for me in the context of management theory, but an old one
in the spiritual realm, so it was fascinating to see how he applied it to
people in the workplace. THe point he was making was that people need to be
motivated to work toward a company vision; they need to be enthused,
excited, involved.

How do you achieve this? Not by paying them more or giving them better
benefits - this helps them tolerate their work, but not enjoy it. You have
to get them involved in the GAME of your business. Everyone has to see that
they are one of the chess pieces, and they have to see that they have an
impact on all the other pieces on the board. If people don't see the part
they play in achieving your vision, they are not in the game, and they play
their game elsewhere - in their social life, for example, drinking and
gossiping with their friends at the pub, or going to the football and
cheering on their team.

This concept has been kicking around in my head for a week now, and it has
helped me settle in at work, where I have been experiencing a bit of
friction with my manager. And I've just looked at the clock and noticed I'm
going to be late!! So to avoid further friction I'll sign off here - but
interested to know if other people have applied "game theory" in their
working lives...

Anita