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The Entrepreneurial Ethic We feel the entrepreneurial ethic is the connection between an entrepreneur's idea (product/service) and the user/beneficiary (customer). This translates, in daily operations, to the continuous connection between those associates providing service/product/benefits and the beneficiaries (customers) of those efforts. At the center of this connection are associates participating in asking the critical questions for "How are we doing?" Both individually and collectively. Through these actions, associates learn, if they have not already, to get feedback from their own daily activities. This forms a base for continued engagement as people crave connection with other people. A cycle develops as engaged associates engage customers who in turn re-engage associates and partners alike. After all, entrepreneurs begin their journey exactly in this way with such a cycle! It is this continuous frontline connection between products/services and customers to build a cycle of engagement that is a missing-link in most of today's daily operations. Not only does the engagement (involvement with hearts and minds) foster questions and customer dialogue but also facilitates individual and collective demonstration of intentions, attention and reflection. These soft intangible characteristics sustain commitments, focus, and learning respectively. A critical connection that transcends operations, business models, and strategy; internal feedback is at the heart of continuing customer focus, learning, and commitments. The most successful entrepreneurs in most every industry such as Sam Walton (Retail), Ray Kroc (Hospitality), Walt Disney (Entertainment), and Thomas J. Watson (Technology) maintained it as a central core of their organizations for as long as they lived.
In his research and subsequent book "Good to Great", author Jim Collins discovers an epiphany in the "magical alchemy of superior performance and sustained results" by combining a "culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship."
© George Reavis - george@thankingcustomers.com |
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