Hi! My name is Andy and I have an addiction to Halo. Seriously, though. I almost failed out of my freshman year of college from playing the first installment of the franchise. I fell hard again for Halo 3 (I’ve developed a routine of only buying every other version). It wasn’t healthy, as I was also attempting a freelance career at the time. Yesterday, I got home from the gym and played Halo 4 for so long that it was almost bedtime before I realized how hungry I was. I’d played pretty much straight through dinner time without realizing. Allow me, once again, to justify my ridiculous habits. I present to you, the Benchmark 5: Things Halo Teaches Us about Business.

  1. Teamwork is best. I don’t last very long, every time I run around a map by myself. When I stick with my teammates, my success rates in the game always go up. No man is an island. If you find productive ways to lean on one other, you can achieve new heights. You might be surprised what working with someone else brings out in you.
  2. Some people will build you up, some will knock you down. You encounter those from all walks of life when playing Halo multiplayer online. Some are willing to help you get better. Others want nothing more than to destroy you, call you awful names and generally ruin your days in any way they can think of. It will happen as you go along in business as well. Stick with the ones willing to help, and don’t sweat the ones that won’t. You’ll get better at deciphering between the two as you gain experience.
  3. There’s always going to be that guy. One player on my team decided he didn’t like the map that was chosen for a game. Instead of gutting it out, he drove in circles in a vehicle the entire time, occasionally firing at his own teammates. He wasn’t happy, so nobody could be. You might encounter this person when doing business, or trolling your social media pages. Try as you might, there’s just no pleasing them. Learn how to rise above it, and don’t get pulled down into the mud.
  4. The carrot at the end of a stick method is effective. With Halo, there’s rankings. You can accomplish various achievement to raise your rank higher. My brother plays all night long, because it is a matter of pride to him to have a higher rank. There’s nothing tangible to it, he just wants the bragging rights. Incentivize your customers, and see what they’ll do for you.
  5. Don’t underestimate the power of serialized content. Halo 4 brought in $220 million dollars…on it’s first day. It was the biggest US entertainment release of the year. The Halo franchise has generated more than $3.38 billion in revenue since the start. It could be a new installment of a beloved product, or even just an ongoing blog column or series. There’s a reason there’s so many sequels and remakes in Hollywood these days. People like what they already know.