The Best Robot Wins预览

Business is a machine, and while there are many intricacies required to create a machine, there is a basic formula that, if followed, can produce the best robot. Every business needs systems and processes to support and extract the most outstanding value from its human capital, and every business needs humans to accomplish the mission. 

Genesis chapter 1 provides a road map for creating a framework so that mankind can thrive. In the beginning, God created the structure first—heavens, earth, light, sky, land, seas, plants, trees, sun, moon, stars, air, and sea creatures—and finally, on day six, He created land animals and mankind. If God were to have created man first, the conditions would have made it impossible to survive. God created the structure, so humankind could thrive.

As a business owner or leader, it is your job to ensure that the structure of your organization aids your human workers in accomplishing the mission. The greater the clarity around systems and processes within the machine the better able you will be to attract, retain, and engage highly qualified and unique human workers to align their purposes and passions toward the mission. By fostering a culture that creates harmony between people and processes, human workers can have fulfilling personal lives and produce results one hundred times greater than the competition.

Regardless of the industry, humans are every organization’s greatest asset. John Maxwell says, “People determine the potential in your organization.” He’s right! That’s why leaders must remember that human workers are individuals with personal lives, feelings, experiences, values, creativity, and—ultimately—intellectual capital.

The Bible has so much to say about business. We’re going to focus on two key lessons: one, the Parable of the Sower, which explains the importance of creating an environment in which your people can grow and thrive and two, the Parable of the Talents, which helps every person from CEO to individual worker understand the importance of their unique contributions. Rich, rewarding, wonderful workplaces that spark, motivate, and inspire humans do not happen by accident nor do they always equate to companies standing the test of time. Processes and systems do not have to suffocate rich, rewarding workplaces. However, if the company is not profitable, the company will cease to exist. It ain’t personal, it’s just business.