Benchmark Business Group

Is the E-Myth Revisited Still Relevant?

August 5, 2013

There are critics who say that the world and the world of business have changed to the point that the E-Myth Revisited, by Michael E. Gerber, is no longer relevant. Often times, anti E-Myth arguments center on the idea that systems make for a formal and rigid work environment, thus creating an almost robotic culture that crushes any sign of creativity and innovation.

 

It's easy to ignore the critics. The E-Myth Revisited is a New York Times Best Seller and has been used successfully in over 50,000 businesses worldwide. We know that it works. We see the successes every day, but it's worth asking, "Has the world and business changed since the writing of the E-Myth Revisited?"

 

Absolutely!   Social Media wasn't a hot topic when Gerber penned the E-Myth. Employers were talking about how to manage the baby boomer generation and prepare for the generation X. In today's world, social media is a topic of interest with other "traditional" media and employers are talking about how to handle the retirement of the baby boomers and prepare for the millennium generation.

 

Notice what hasn't changed? Business owners are still focused on advertising and managing employees and meeting their customers' needs. They are still focused on differentiating their businesses from their competition in ways that only consistency and predictability can sustain. They are still trying to grow their businesses and "WOW" their customers in a way that they can replicate over and over without worrying about the ever increasing propensity for employees to explore other career opportunities.  

 

So yes, business and the world around us has changed, but it's also remained the same.So what makes E-Myth Revisited a book that has and will continue to stand the test of time? It's not just the systems.   Part of the answer lies in the Business Development Process. The E-Myth Mastery program was never designed to be a one-time process. It is instead an ongoing mindset that a business has to adapt. That mindset, the business development process, is as follows: 
  • Innovation - Finding the best way to get results from your client's point of view. If the business is no longer spending a large amount of resources putting out "fires" and employees are not running in opposite directions, the business can innovate the way of doing business to find a better way. This creates a cycle of creativity in the business that squashes all thoughts of robots. Creativity is a necessity, it just becomes organized and easier to implement.

  • Quantification - How do you know what is changing in the world of business? How do you come to expect market changes? If you're able to produce consistent results through systems, you are able to know when something needs the business to pay attention. You'll be able to respond faster and better to changes that will always be a part of business. This is part of how E-Myth becomes a mindset of the business and what keeps it relevant and not outdated.

  • Orchestration -  Delivering the promise your business makes to its customers is about being able to operate predictably. Orchestration is putting the innovations into action. Once systems are implemented you can't set it and forget it. 
You use the quantification and make sure that promise is fulfilled each and every time. Yes the world, your customers, and business will change. And when it does, quantification will catch the changes and your business starts again with innovation.
Why do the critics get it wrong?  Our theory is that most critics look at the process from a technician's point of view.   They get so focused on documenting the "how to" of business in the Orchestration phase that they don't see the management or entrepreneurial systems that need created in the Innovation and Quantification phases.

 

Within the E-Myth Revisited Gerber notes, "if the Business Development Process were only about Orchestration, I would agree with you-it would be deadly. Absent a higher purpose, all habits are." This month we're going to challenge you to focus on that higher purpose-to put away that technician hat and step away from "how" to create systems and focus on "why" your business needs systems.

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