You, as the entrepreneur, have to give direction to your teams’ talents. And you, as a team member have to work towards that entrepreneurial vision. In many ways, a team dynamic in the office parallels that on the performers stage.

While I’m not a huge fan of choreography, this video is quite fascinating and illustrates the team dynamic:

Google does this all the time. It puts limits on accessibility (think invitation, developer preview only) to refine the product — makes it more stable, enhance its features, etc — then launches it to the world. From there, it grows exponentially. Both Facebook and Google exemplify how limiting access during the fine tuning stages can make for a better product when it is unveiled to the broader audience.

It’s interesting then, why Pandora recently created a 40-hour listening limit per month. Now that they’ve had years to refine and grow their product and audience, the online music streaming service is turning back the clock. If anything, they are penalizing their strongest advocates.

You’d imagine Pandora would try to make their product more accessible — similar to the Google / Facebook strategy. Though the move will not completely stunt the online music streaming service’s growth, it does discourage advocates from using the player.

But what about customers? Customers can hurt your bottom line. For instance, a couple walks into your furniture store and there are children bouncing off the couches, jumping on the beds, yelling and screaming. Many of us have been in this situation. Though the furniture store might have slightly better prices or a more friendly staff, those kid are so annoying that they tip the scale — in essence, the selling advantage is outweighed by the kids with oblivious parents.

Those kids are hurting your bottom line by pushing prospective customers out the door. The challenge many business face is finding the guts to say no. Saying no to customers that hurt your bottom line can be just as cost-saving as firing Larry from IT. With this holiday shopping season in full swing, consider saying “no,” or “you have to leave” to disruptive customers — who knows, it could help your bottom line.

Here is the newly released video:

The newspaper industry could take a few notes on the potential of such a new product design. This tablet-like device allows content producers to develop a branded experience that users cannot get anywhere else. Getting ahead of the curve like SI is how other publishers can compete. Once the device is launched, you have a product that cannot be duplicated and therefore, can be monetized.

Although this new product innovation will not alter the fate of many newspapers, it will give them a leg-up in a game they are losing. Finding new ways of delivering a product unique to your brand and market is how newspapers and magazines can survive.

The video below illustrates my point about detail. Look at the camera and the way the film is shot:

Now think about the same video with a steady camera that you typically find in movies. It wouldn’t be the same, would it? Shaking the camera brings you closer to the action — it makes it more real, tangible and chilling.

Now think about how you can add detail to your business. Is it describing the pecan sauce in the description of your menu item (think high-end restaurants) or mailing your client a thank you card or even something as simple as saying good job to your employees. You’d be surprised what a little more attention to detail can get you.

The point Steve makes about Microsoft innovating on many different fronts is interesting. While Microsoft is developing MP3 players, mobile and desktop OS, gaming systems, browsers and search engines, the question becomes, are they losing focus? Are they concentrating on too many areas and diluting their efforts?

Microsoft is suffering on several areas. The software giant lost 28% market share in mobile OS this past year, Internet Explore’s grip in the browser market is slipping to Mozilla and Chrome (down from 75.47% in January to as low as 64.13%) and the Zune is continuing to choke.

The company faces even more competition from Google (beyond browsers and search engines) with their new Chrome OS. So while Ballmer says he wants to innovate on many different fronts, should they be instead re-tooling their strategy? One that brings more focus to their efforts?

This is a similar situation many entrepreneurs face as they begin their startup. There are so many things that could be done that you could lose sight of what needs to be done.

Create a list of your goals, then figure out how to get from A to B. This will help you develop your priorities. Next, keep to this list — try not to stray too far from your key priorities. After a while you should begin to make progress towards your goals. This strategy will help eliminate unimportant tasks from your daily schedule — allowing for more “me time.”

This new Wolfram feature illustrates step-by-step how you get from A to B. If you look a layer deeper, it’s about transparency. Instead of saying, “you’re fired” and leaving it at that, explaining how you arrived at your decision is critical.

Some bloggers make it their job to write about how they grow their user base. Darren Rose from ProBlogger does just that. He blogs about how newsletters and other online marketing initiatives have helped him increase his ad revenues.

How can you peel back the layers and show people how you got from A to B? Is it a blog where you review airlines from your business trips or is it helping your non-digitally savvy users fix their computer problems by showing them how to do it? It doesn’t have to be complicated or overly involved. Just telling people how to get from point A to point B is essential in helping people grow — whether it’s how to delete browser cookies to increase your processing speed or getting to 1,000 visitors to your website.

Here is an excerpt from a blog I stumbled across:

Today we’re going to take a little trip in the wayback machine with the help of my colleague Seth Manheim, who was there when this happened.

Set the date to November 22, 1989, twenty years ago and one day. Bill Gates is being taken on a guided tour of the product support department’s new office building, and during his visit, he asks one of the people manning the phones,

“Mind if I take this call?”

Bill puts on a headset, sits down, and answers the phone. “Hello, this is Microsoft Product Support, William speaking. How can I help you?”

Bill talks with the customer, collects the details of the problem, searches in the product support Knowledge Base, sifts through the search results, finds the solution, and patiently walks the customer through fixing the problem.

The customer is thrilled that William was able to fix the problem so quickly, and with such a pleasant attitude. Bill wraps up the call. “And thank you for using Microsoft products.”

At no point did Bill identify himself as anything other than William. The customer had no idea that the product support engineer who took the call was none other than Bill Gates.

But the story doesn’t end there.

Even though this story took place while most of the support staff were on their lunch break, news travels quickly, and soon everybody in the department knows about The time Bill took a product support call.

Some time later, the same customer calls back with a follow-up question.

— Hi, I called you folks with a problem with XYZ, and I talked with a nice man named William who straightened it all out. But I have another question. Can I speak with William?

“Okay, let me see if William is available.” The product support engineer brings up the customer’s service record and looks at the name of the support engineer who handled the earlier call: billg.

“Yeah, um, I’m sorry, but William is not available right now. His friends call him Bill, by the way. The person who helped you last time? That was Bill Gates.”

— Oh my God.

How many people do you think that surprised customer told, “Bill Gates helped me fix my computer.” And how many people do you think have heard this story on the web? How do you think something so simple as taking a customer service call can create such buzz? By simply stepping out of our expectations of a Captain of Industry, Bill Gates was able to create a viral campaign to enhance his brand image.

What do people expect of you? And how can you change that expectation to create a memorable impression? Of course, this is not to say you could start dancing on your desk. It’s about doing something positive that engenders goodwill. It could be something as simple as buying your boss abox of chocolates from your trip to Hersheys. It’s not overly complicated but unexpected.

The procedure that could prevent the over 2.5 million people suffering from MS, might shed some light on how emerging and established industry leaders can make their businesses more effecient. Often times, managers have a narrow view of the entire operation. For instance, let’s say you oversee a team of managers, who then oversee entry level employees. You rely on those managers to give you a realistic picture of what’s happening on the ground floor.

One of your managers appears to be productive, but in reality, they push the people they oversee to work harder so the manager doesn’t have to work as hard. As their superior, you might not see this — as long as they appear productive, you think everything is going swimmingly.

Of course, appearances can be deceiving. Just as the blocked bloodflow in MS patients, you might not at first see the problem. It might be helpful to have an annual internal review, whereby everyone is graded anonymously. This approach will empower those under the unproductive manager to speak up — give you the real scoop. This will help you identify where you have a block in your business. From that point, you can handle the situation accordingly. It is such a simple approach to making a productive, more efficient workforce.