You Are in Show Business

The best business people are show people, as are the best educators and the most compassionate physicians. Whether consciously or not, they operate their professional lives as though they were in show business.

To make my case, I'd like to share six ways that every great business acts like it is in show business:

1.) They put their products on a stage. Average companies present products in average ways. They are boring. Great companies treat their products like stars. A Nike running store is like a shrine to running, and the entire store is designed as though it is a theater. The people who work there are obsessed with running; they are no less dedicated to running than an actor is to acting.

2.) At showtime, they give every ounce of energy. Once your doors are open, it is showtime, and you have to give 100%. The last few minutes of a show bring the triumphant climax, not a low-energy obsession with watching the clock until you can go home. Great businesses close on a high, not with a whimper. The Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in New York City takes this principle even further; it never closes, and the energy there is amazing, even late at night. Go to a craft fair, and watch the merchants who are doing the best business; the odds are that they are true show people, treating every minute at the show as precious.

3.) Energy flows two ways. It is unsustainable to expect employees to deliver great energy day after day without somehow getting it back. Great companies hire the best and create a culture that makes employees feel like the best. They are the ones that innovate and thrive. "Google" pictures of Google's offices, and see what I mean. In my town, Max's Art Supplies continues to thrive as other local merchants disappear. The store's employees seem to genuinely love talking with and helping customers, and the walls behind their counter are filled with gifts and gags from famous artists.

4.) Their standards are very high. Show business is hard. Performers have to stay in shape, writers have to top their last effort, and musicians can't miss a beat. You don't get to work hard for seven years, then coast for ten. You have to work hard week after week after week. In the same manner, the best companies are extremely demanding. They don't do it to be mean or exploitative; they do it because that's the way show business works. At a great supermarket, the cashier walks out from behind the counter to greet you and take control of your shopping cart; at the average ones, they just stand there and check their text messages.

5.) They understand that showmanship is an art, not a science. There is no book that says: do this, and your show is guaranteed to be a hit. Likewise, there is no magic formula for delivering one hit product after another. The best you can do is to cultivate a culture of showmanship and a willingness to dust yourself off and try again after a bomb.

For example, when you make a mistake, you can make excuses and apologize, or you can treat a problem as an occasion to demonstrate how much you value their business, going far beyond the call of duty. Our carpenter once came on a Saturday - just hours after my phone call - to fix closet shelves his assistant had improperly installed; we ended up talking, and I hired him to renovate our bathroom.

6.) They honor the unwritten rules. Former Pixar storyboard artist Emma Coats actually wrote down a list of storytelling principles that for the most part have been unwritten. My favorite is: coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.

Underneath it all, show business is a source of adrenaline. The excitement of performing elevates us above our daily lives. It is fun and exciting.

No matter what you do, whether you deliver newspapers or run a company, the more you can act as though you are in show business, the more excited people will be about working with you.