Involvement vs. Commitment in Small Business

It's an old joke:

Question: In the classic bacon and egg breakfast, what's the role of the chicken, and what's the role of the pig? Answer: the chicken is involved. The pig is committed.

Good joke or not, there's nothing funny about involvement vs. commitment when it has to do with getting things done in a small business setting. Entrepreneurship isn't always as simple as a bunch of mice eating a piece of cheese. Sometimes you need to get organized.

Involved is when you struggle with something that isn't working and you keep seeing a group. You see more than one face. There's a mix of people with authority, another mix with responsibility, and another with related tasks. When more than one person is involved in a problem, it's going to take more than one person to solve it.

Committed, on the other hand, is when the face, and the task, and the authority, and the responsibility are all matched. That person is committed. She wins when it goes well, and loses when it doesn't.

And that, in a nutshell, is management.

(image: istockphoto.com)