Michael Gerber Quotes

4. All Work in the Model Will Be Documented in Operations Manuals

La empresa es el objetivo más creativo y emocionante al que podemos aspirar. También es extraordinariamente divertido… si se hace bien.

The first thing that surprised me when I came to work here,” the Manager said, “was that the owner took me seriously.

CONFUSION 5: HOW TO DEAL WITH CUSTOMER DISSATISFACTION If you have hit each step to this point, customer dissatisfaction will be rare. But dissatisfactions will happen. Here’s what to do about them: 1. Always listen to what your Customers are saying. And never interrupt while they’re saying it! 2. After you’re sure you’ve heard all of your Customer’s complaint, make absolutely certain you understand what he or she said. You could ask, “Can I repeat what you’ve just told me, Mrs. Jones, to make absolutely certain I understand you?” 3. Secure your Customer’s acknowledgment that you have heard his or her complaint accurately. 4. Apologize for whatever your Customer thinks you did that dissatisfied him or her even if you didn’t do it! 5. After your Customer has acknowledged your apology, ask exactly what would make him or her happy. 6. Repeat what your Customer told you would make him or her happy, and get his or her acknowledgment that you heard it correctly. 7. If at all possible, give your Customer exactly what he or she asked for! But what if your Customer wants something completely unreasonable? If you’ve followed my recommendations to the letter, what your Customer asks will seldom seem unreasonable. That’s assuming you’ve got the right Customer.

Murray also agrees to create a questionnaire and mail it to a sample of their Central Demographic Model consumers to find out how they feel they’re treated by other widget companies. At the same time, Murray is to personally call 150 of those consumers. He’ll conduct a Needs Analysis to get a better understanding of how they think and feel about widgets. What do widgets mean to them? How have widgets changed their lives? If they could have any kind of widget at all, what would it look like? How would it feel to use it? What do they want a good widget to do for them? Murray agrees to do the research by a certain date.

It’s easy to spot a business in Infancy — the owner and the business are one and the same thing.

it’s not the commodity or the work itself that is important. What’s important is the business: how it looks, how it acts, how it does what it is intended to do.

• Las personas necesitan orden. Necesitan saber que hay una estructura, una lógica, unas bases, unos criterios y unos principios claros…, justicia en la empresa y en la labor que han de llevar a cabo. • Las personas necesitan sentirse escuchadas. Necesitan saber que su contribución es importante, que, independientemente de la posición que ocupen en la empresa (empleado, cliente, proveedor, entidad de crédito), sus deseos son importantes y disponen de un canal para transmitir lo que les importa. Un canal que siempre está abierto.

He was running the business for him, not for me.

He needs to know why he’s doing what he’s doing.

más grande que ellas mismas. Si la empresa tiene propósitos pequeños, si sólo se interesa por su propia supervivencia, por seguir abierta, no las sostendrá, no las tocará, no las implicará. No; la empresa ha de emprender una misión importante, independientemente del tipo de empresa del que se trate. • Las personas necesitan tener un propósito. Necesitan tener un plan. Necesitan saber que se dirigen hacia algún lugar, un lugar concreto en un período de tiempo concreto. Sin propósito, las personas se marchitan. Se quedan suspendidas en el tiempo. Se convierten en una carga para los demás, se comportan como víctimas, pierden la noción del tiempo. • Las personas necesitan sentir que lo que hacen tiene envergadura moral. La empresa ha de preocuparse por lo correcto: lo correcto para ella, para los demás y para el mundo. La empresa ha de operar con conciencia. Sin conciencia, la empresa atenta contra la poca autoestima que les queda a las personas. • Las personas necesitan sentir la importancia de su contribución personal. Necesitan sentir que la empresa, sin ellos, no sería tan importante; que, cuando entran por la puerta, añaden algo fundamental a la empresa, algo que sólo ellos pueden aportar. Necesitan saber que si ellos no estuvieran, la empresa no sería la misma. • Las personas necesitan sentir el amor de las personas con que se asocian. Saber que, pase lo que pase, importan a los demás. Habrá quien diga que el ideal emocional no es tan importante como contar con un gran producto, con un gran servicio o con una dirección competente. Créame. Como mínimo, es igual de importante.

By asking the right questions, such as: Where do I wish to be? When do I wish to be there? How much capital will that take? How many people, doing what work, and how? What technology will be required? How large a space will be needed, at Benchmark One, at Benchmark Two, at Benchmark Three?

if you understand the technical work of a business, you understand a business that does that technical work.

most people who go into business don’t have a model of a business that works, but of work itself, a Technician’s Perspective, which differs from the Entrepreneurial Perspective in the following ways: • The Entrepreneurial Perspective asks the question: “How must the business work?” The Technician’s Perspective asks: “What work has to be done?” • The Entrepreneurial Perspective sees the business as a system for producing outside results — for the customer — resulting in profits. The Technician’s Perspective sees the business as a place in which people work to produce inside results — for The Technician — producing income. • The Entrepreneurial Perspective starts with a picture of a well-defined future, and then comes back to the present with the intention of changing it to match the vision. The Technician’s Perspective starts with the present, and then looks forward to an uncertain future with the hope of keeping it much like the present. • The Entrepreneurial Perspective envisions the business in its entirety, from which is derived its parts. The Technician’s Perspective envisions the business in parts, from which is constructed the whole. • The Entrepreneurial Perspective is an integrated vision of the world. The Technician’s Perspective is a fragmented vision of the world. • To The Entrepreneur, the present-day world is modeled after his vision. To The Technician, the future is modeled after the present-day world.

É por demais evidente que os negócios, tal como as pessoas, deveriam crescer. E, com o crescimento, vem a mudança.