Teambuilding Through Implied Discontent
“Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?” - Steve Jobs, The line he used to lure John Sculley as Apple’s CEO.
The quote above is a powerful question. When you are working to build a team you don’t just want bodies occupying seats you want individuals who are motivated, passionate and gave a vision for what you are seeking to accomplish in business.
The first part of the question focuses on the perceived trivial nature of what someone is currently doing. The response could be a placid rebuff, anger or possibly some serious internal questioning, “Do I want to spend the rest of my life (fill in the blank).”
It is the second half of that question that drives home a powerful consideration, “Do I want to change the world.”
Well, that may sound better than sitting around doing whatever it is your doing now.
It’s fairly obvious the question asked by Steve Job was designed to instill a measure of discontent with the promise of something better. Job wanted to hire Sculley so if discontent was a solid marketing tool then he used it to great effect.
The point is most of us want to live a life with purpose. We want to be able to look back on our life and see some bit of the world that was changed because we spent time on the big blue ball. That’s what makes this question so powerful whether the question is asked because you want to start your own business or because you want to develop a solid team of like-minded professionals.
While some might argue that this approach is simply relying on discontent to motivate an individual to work for you there is a flipside to this controversial coin. If your business is a good match for the potential employee and if you have done your homework in recruiting you may be able to ask a question that offers them the opportunity to view their present job in light of the passions they have. If the job they currently hold is simply a job and you offer a more team oriented approach to business then this approach to recruiting may make sense for you – and the prospective employee.
This really leaves just one question for each of us to consider – if you were offered the opportunity to change the world, would you?
Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of HighPowerSites and many other web projects. Get your own website online in just 5 minutes with HighPowerSites.com at: http://www.highpowersites.com Start your own ebook business with BooksWealth at: http://www.bookswealth.com
Tags: business coaching, Ecommerce, Internet business, online store, selling online, teambuilding
