Games Workshop – a bit like a cult or religion?
A critical challenge all businesses face is to differentiate themselves. Differentiation, indeed, is indeed one quality common to high performers. Differentiate your brand properly inside and out and it allows you to rise above the crowd by creating an environment where good things are happening, where people can grow and succeed, and where people want to work.
Thought I’d share with you a correspondence I had with a senior employee at Games Workshop a refreshing insight into an organisation that is positively embracing the idea of belonging, of community, of a self-interest that is mutual, it goes beyond just a product or a service and it’s distinct.
“Hi Eb, nice to hear from you. I’ve always thought we were more like a cult or religion than a tribe.
What we do and how we do it is so difficult to explain that it can only be experienced. That may sound arrogant, it isn’t meant to, it’s just that we find that lessons from the “real world” have to be processed very carefully to extract the potentially useful learning.
Let me give you an example. If you buy a box of our miniatures in an independent store in the US, and then 5 years later walk into our own store in Lyon with the box, and say “I’m having trouble sticking these together and I think I may have accidentally snapped a bit off”, the guy in the store will say “oh that’s fine, sit down here and I’ll help you put them together, and we’ll get you a replacement part. Would you like a (free) painting lesson too?” How many businesses can do that?
Anyway, I’d be happy to buy you a coffee if you want to make the trip up to Nottingham and have a look around. I’m not sure there are many secrets to uncover; apart from the obvious one (ie there are no secrets). Let me know when you’d like to drop by.”
The talent exists within people to do amazing things for your company/brand if you treat them like people and if you engage with them in a way that befits your brand. It sounds so simple, but it’s not and sadly it’s not the norm out there in the corporate world.
I’m guessing this guy has worked at other places before joining Games Workshop but cut him up and I’m sure you’d see Games Workshop in his very core. It’s always nice to come across innovative organisations that offer a clue and start to answer the questions about how you manage organisations/brands, in a time where the “wicked problems” abound.