Maybe it’s Steve Jobs’ death. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m in the middle of some issues at Duquesne. Or maybe it’s because I just can’t seem to find the time to finish my book.

Je ne c’est pas. But one thing I can say for sure is that I just can’t seem to come up with one overriding topic for this week’s column.

So, I’ll instead give you three columns. These are ideas that perhaps someone under the age of thirty-five would distribute via Twitter, and over a number of days. But these are concepts that rattle around in my head and so might be of value to my fellow entrepreneurs.

Thought number one.

It seems to me that “winning” in business is not a helluva lot unlike winning a football game.

Let me explain. For those who never played the game, football is actually eleven individual battles each and every down. The offensive tight end deals with the defensive end. The center deals with the middle linebacker. And the flanker deals with the cornerback.

It’s all about field position. The objective is to move the ball closer to the opponent’s goal line.

On every play, one of these two competitors will win, and one will lose. If nine or ten of the “wins” happen on the same side of the ball, that side will almost assuredly “win” that play. If the battles fall 6-5 or 7-4, then it’s altogether likely that the play will result in no significant change in field position.

How is this different from business? Frankly, it’s not. Not even one bit. Every day, and in every way, every employee or associate in every business enterprise needs to “win” his or her individual battles. What this means is that your people have got to do what I call “advance the ball” by achieving the goals that they know they must achieve in their particular area.

So, your marketing people have got to generate leads for your salespeople. Your salespeople have got to bring in “good” business. And, of course, your production people have got to build and service quality products.

Management is by no means exempt from these battles. They, too, must “win” every day.

A football squad that wins 70, 80, or 90 percent of the individual battles on every play will also end up winning the game. And so it is in business.

As the owner or CEO of your business, it is incumbent upon you to make sure that your people have all the training, tools, and overall understanding of the business’s objectives so that they can achieve those individual wins each day.

Thought number two.

When it comes to persistence, it seems to me that all businesses employ two types of people. Type “A” people are those who “hit the wall” and then figure out a way over, under, or even through that wall.

Unfortunately, there are too few type “A” people.

My experience has been that the majority of workers are type “B” people. And, as you’ve already figured out, a type B person is one who hits the wall and then sits there, back to the wall, arms folded, and completely devoid of both ideas and initiative vis-à-vis getting over, around, or through that wall.

I’ve had some success in changing type B’s to type A’s. Mostly, type B people simply aren’t all that confident that they can, and like their type A brethren, get past their walls.

So, it is up to you, the leader, to show them how it’s done. Oftentimes, all that needs to happen is for a type B to observe a type A doing his/her “thing.” It’s just a matter of confidence.

I’ve had type B folks whom I knew could become type A folks come to me after seeing me breech a wall and say, “I didn’t know that was possible.”

So, take the time to show and/or teach your type B people. By turning a B into an A, you’ve not only vastly improved your enterprise, but you give the world another “doer.”

And God knows we need many, many more of these.

Keep also in mind the fact that some people just will never change. In this case, I would evoke Morris’ Immutable Number 50, “It’s easier to change people than it is to change people.”

Thought number three.

A word about adrenaline.

The other night, I was on Fox television, talking variously about my cancer and the “adrenaline” required each day to run a start-up business.

You see, my good friend Jerry Bowyer had written a column, talking (in part) about his belief that Steve Jobs had effectively “burned out early” by constantly relying on his adrenal glands for the extra energy often required by the day-to-day stress in a start-up.

The interviewer (I cannot remember his name) asked me if I agreed with the theory that constant reliance on adrenaline will in time “over-torque” the rest of the “equipment” in the body.

(It’s kind of like burning nitro-methane in a Volkswagen Jetta. The factory-installed components of a standard Jetta simply cannot handle the stress of such a powerful fuel.)

I replied, “It’s a good theory --- and I think that many people who start and build businesses do succumb to early health breakdowns as a result.”

But I don’t believe this has to always be the case. I believe that you can, and in a way, “have your cake and eat it too.”

This is effectuated by hiring smart, professional managers --- managers who have the skill, knowledge, and guts to tell the start-up entrepreneur when and how he/she is exceeding the boundaries.

Also, it helps to learn the art of true delegation. This can remove a great deal of stress.

And finally, it is always a good idea to slay the devil that sits on your left shoulder. The one that constantly whispers in your ear, “You can do this as well.” By “this,” I refer to that “one more activity” that entrepreneurs simply cannot say no to.

So, learn to say no! Learn how to turn people down. I can assure you that they will not donate their liver to you when you need it, so why must you sacrifice that same liver by agreeing to take on their demons in addition to your own?

There you go. Some thoughts to consider. Call it a “cheater column” if you will. I prefer to call it “three columns for the price of one.”

See you next week.

* Listen to Ron on The American Entrepreneur Radio Show. Ron and his colleagues can be heard on PBR stations seven days a week! Tune in M-F from 3:00 - 6:00 p.m.; Saturday from 9:00 a.m. - Noon (all on AM 1360). Ron can also be heard on Sundays from 10:00 a.m. -12:30 p.m. on FM 104.7