I’ve been waiting for my blog to pop up on BlogMaps, a new way to find blogs through Blogwise. I’m happy to see that it’s finally there.
I really love all the cool stuff that’s coming out through Google Map’s open API.
Archive | August, 2005
Can I Get A Simple, Sincere Apology?
Is that too much to ask? This evening, I went to the grocery store to pick up some dinner, beer, and ice cream (any guesses as to what brand and variety? a clue can be found here). The reason I chose the ice cream was because I had a coupon. After showing her the coupon as I approached her, I laid it on the little check writing counter in front of the cashier. However, she was in such a hurry to get me through the line, she didn’t bother to notice the coupon. When she finally finished my checkout, I asked if she had scanned the coupon. Her reply: "No, it’s too late." Okay, she did try to get the manager to come over and credit the $1.00 back to my debit card, but it hardly seemed worth the trouble.
So, what’s going on? Am I making too much out of something really small? Am I just tired after dealing with some very cranky members today? Maybe. Yet, why is it so difficult for all of us who are in the service industry to just offer a simple, honest apology? Lest you think it’s just folks who work in fast-food (I can’t remember the last time I had an apology or even a thank you there), grocery stores, and similar places, I’ve had my fair share of experiences with high-end retail lately, as well. Perhaps you have, too.
Here’s the kicker: I need to call a member back tomorrow and apologize to her. Do I want to? Not really, but this is a case where I messed up. I was right on with the facts of the conflict, but simply forgot to separate the person from the issue. In the end, I was wrong and I need to admit to it. So, even though I can’t get an apology from my local grocery cashier, at least I can offer one to my member.
Make Staff Meetings An Occasion Of Special Opportunity
I’ve mentioned before that I’m reading the fantastic How the Way We Talk Can Change the Way We Work : Seven Languages for Transformation by Robert Kegan & Lisa Laskow Lahey. It’s one of those books that make my long daily Metro commute a pleasure.
While I plan to devote some blog space to individual chapters in the next couple of weeks, something in the final pages caught my imagination that I just need to share. Kegan and Lahey end their work by focusing on that dreaded aspect of office life – the staff meeting. However, rather than dreading it (or worse, contemptuously calling it a time-waster), they advocate for something more spectacular. Take this in and savor it:
Of course, a meeting must deal with the pressing business at hand, no doubt about it. But a meeting actually is also an occasion of special opportunity. Here we all are together. Usually we are spread out, each engaged in his or her piece of the operation; but for this brief period here we are, all together…A gathering of the whole is an opportunity not merely to handle the momentary business of the day, but to re-mind (and re-spirit) ourselves as to what is most important to us collectively, what we care most about, what we stand for or are up to in the bigger sense. Not having at least a small portion of every meeting given over to this regenerative purpose is a terrible squandering of a leadership opportunity.
How many of our meetings are boring rehashes of the previous week, a rote presentation of activities, a gripe session about customers, vendors, you name it? Sometimes meetings are conducted like sprints (ever been to a meeting where everyone stands…the whole point is to keep it brief). Why? The authors point to an increasingly lost art of hospitality that goes beyond a warm smile, but a conscious effort to direct a group’s collective attention to a purpose or person we care deeply about. It reminds me of one of Rosa’s management values, ho’okipa, where there is "complete generosity and those who aspire to the best practice of this value are highly empathetic, and very perceptive in anticipating the needs of others."
As leaders, what if we start practicing ho’okipa in our offices? What if we used our meetings as powerful opportunities to actually create a meaningful shared space filled with a common experience? Where might we be able to take our organizations?
Never Too Late To Reconnect
This was a great Monday. I have to admit that I’ve struggled with my Mondays for the past few weeks. Maybe it’s just a part of returning to office life after my nine-month "work from home" self-employment experiment. Maybe it’ll pass with time. Or maybe its just one of those personality quirks of mine; sometimes it takes a little while for me to find my groove. Whatever it is, I’ve found it challenging to reorient myself back into the office and my work after a weekend.
Today was quite different and I believe it has a lot to do with my weekend. I went back to my hometown in West Virginia to celebrate my cousin’s wedding. As I mature and mellow in my early 30s, I’m coming to appreciate my kin more and it was interesting to see this young man (who used to be just a kid who wanted me to watch him play baseball) take a big step in his life.
Perhaps the best part of all is that I am now related through this marriage to a dear childhood friend. Our friendship goes all the way back to first grade. Sadly, we lost complete touch after high school and this was the first time I had seen him in over ten years. Not so sadly was the fact that we picked up almost right where we left off. We watched our kids play together on the reception dance floor, traded stories of career changes, even got our wives talking together like they were old pals. The whole experience was a true joy that I just carried along with me today.
Now comes for the part where I acknowledge that my friendships are critically important to me and that I’ve done a rather poor job in keeping in touch. I’m probably not alone there. But I just don’t want to say that I’ll stay in better communication with the dear people in my life, I want to act on it. This takes an honest commitment so here’s mine: I will call (not email) each of my dear friends at least once every three months. Of course, I’ll find that I’ll have some competing commitments (probably involving time) that I’ll have to work through.
It all comes down to the ideal of an Integrated Livelihood: bringing the important roles of our lives (including work) into a holistic understanding. Getting off the see-saw of the work/life balance conundrum means figuring out what’s important and incorporating these aspects into a whole life. My friendships have been missing from my integrated livelihood; I’m resolving to bring them in.
This coming weekend, I’m off to another wedding. This time it’s for one of my dearest friends in Tennessee. If today is any indication, next Monday will be another terrific day.
Experience Is Open To Interpretation
Our experience is not what happens to us, but what we make of what happens to us.
–Aldous Huxley
I have this written on the large whiteboard that hangs directly in front of my desk at work. It is an honest reminder that the experience of the individual custo/member is not within our control. Our custo/members have the ability to transform any experience to their own liking (or disliking). Whether the experience is perceived as positive or negative hinges on some very personal criteria, which are often not easily understood.
What I can do is cultivate the opportunities for the right kind of experience. I can help create the space for a member to experience what they want – better yet, what they need – even if it’s not what I originally intended. That’s where the real power lies anyway.
