The Ripken Way

My son just got back from Cal Ripken Jr.'s baseball camp.  The camp is run by Cal and Bill Ripken's company.  Cal is a fascinating person to watch.  As "The Iron Man," he can basically do whatever he wants; and he's dedicated his post-professional career to making youth baseball better.  My son had a great time and learned a lot in the process.

The Ripken Academy (which put on the camp) follows four simple principles in their instruction - what they call The Ripken Way.  As my son was talking about The Ripken Way, I realized it's application beyond youth baseball - to, well, everything.  I spend a lot of time on this blog trying to share important ideas and examples that will enable small and medium sized businesses (SME's) to accelerate their growth and create demand.  My company, Imagine Business Development, works with SMEs and salespeople to help them improve their results.  Without knowing The Ripken Way consciously, I realize that these are four principles that I always try to follow.  Now that I know them, I'm going to ingrain in my company and our efforts.  I want to share them with you, so you may do the same in your company.  (The italics are my take on each principle.)

The Ripken Way is based on the following principles:

1. Keep It Simple - it's easy to make a solution complicated; the power of all great solutions lies in their simplicity.


2. Make It Fun - if it's not fun, it's a) not worth doing, and b) people won't stick to it.


3. Explain Why- success in the future is all about judgment; if people don't understand why they're doing something - they'll never be able to apply lessons to real life.


4. Celebrate The Individual -  everybody is special and uniquely talented; allow them to be themselves and they'll do great things.