Letters To RainToday: John Doerr & Mike Schultz: Horse To Water

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Article	You Can Lead A Horse To Water, But You Can't Make Him Sell... Or Can You?
Author	Mike Schultz & John Doerr
My Thoughts	Articulate Rewards…And Consequences I believe that by articulating the rewards, we emphasise the wrong thing. I think what we have to emphasise is the culture and the vision of the company. Rewards are cerebral, but the vision touches people at their deepest beings, and that makes them act. The military doesn't motivate soldiers by telling them, “If you do this, you get a medal”. The mantra is, “You have to do this to be the best you can be. And you can do it.” And the soldiers do it. And with this approach the military has earned “the ultimate professional service firm” moniker. In my work I apply what I learnt from my own military training. I consult with professional service firms, and what I've found that when we implement this “militaristic” approach, people's passion, enthusiasm and inspiration levels go up and then money follows. We create a high-fun, high-demand environment by reiterating the culture and the vision. And the higher visions we set, the higher people are willing to step up.
My Name	Tom "Bald Dog" Varjan
My Title & Firm Name	Dynamic Innovations Squad