Imagine having to dial triple-o…
At a recent rehearsal I walked past two of the younger members of the cast who were playing with one of the props – an old fashioned circular dial phone. They were doing what all of us do when we see one. Putting their fingers into the hole and rotating the dial and then enjoying the satisfying click-click-click-click as the dial returned to the starting position.
“Imagine having to call triple-o! That would take forever to dial...”
Now my recollection is that is exactly the reason why triple zero was chosen. It was a combination of numbers that you had to dial very deliberately to be connected to emergency services. It reduces the number of accidental dialings.
You had to mean to do it.
It was pretty hard to accidentally butt dial triple zero! Your two year old was unlikely to call an ambulance while playing with the phone – mostly because the one telephone in the house was up on a table somewhere out of reach, but also because of the difficulty in dialing three zeros should they succeed in using the cord (yes the cord) to pull the telephone down onto the floor.
Triple zero made sense at the time but my young colleagues aren’t to know that. The only place they come across those sorts of telephonic devices is as props in the theatre or the occasional antique store.
Maybe it is just my age but I am increasingly witnessing the same sorts of conversations in the organisations I work with. Only it has very little to do with the age of the people having the conversation and more to do with how long they have been involved with the organisation.
There is often a very good reason why things are the way they are. Like my young colleagues, those with a shorter history bring with them a different context through which they view the procedures and practices of the organisation. Sometimes, many times, that creates opportunities for improvement. But not always and I have seen many examples when an ignorance of the history behind why it is done that way creates problems today.
With the increasing trend towards the use of temporary and contract staff (along with secondments and expats) large parts of today’s organisation has a corporate memory of only three or four years. They are quick to decide we don’t need this or that role – why would you do it that way in the first place? It is not until the organisational equivalent of butt-dialing triple zero that they come to see there is a very good reason why it was done that way.
I think it goes the other way as well. Very few people believe they will stay in the organisation more than a couple of years so they don’t spend much time thinking very far into the future. It is the organisational equivalent of the short term government policy decisions that arise out of the three or four year electoral cycle, and the results are just as damaging.
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Baristatude!
It is a happy day when many of the parts of my life that I love come together in a single moment.
Sitting with my family at our favourite local coffee shop on a cool and sunny Sunday morning brings together two of them. The staff there know me well enough to tell me what the single origin is that they have on their second grinder without me having to ask. Even when things are crazy – and it does get crazy there – they always have time for a smile.
I notice it because I have had many experiences in one particular coffee shop where the staff who bring the coffee to our table deliver it with a sullen face and barely a grunt. If it wasn’t for the quality of the coffee they serve AND the fact that we are currently working with a client across the road from their store, I wouldn’t bother going back. Ever.
Which explains why the cover of the BeanScene magazine on the table caught my eye. The article “Social service – Smiling for the sake of the industry” was penned by two-time Australia Barista Champion and 2006 World Latte Art Champion Scottie Callaghan. He calls this type of disdainful behaviour baristatude.
Scottie’s identification of this emerging trend and his subsequent advice is of value to everyone not just those in the coffee business – remember that it is your customer who is paying your wages!
The order of a half-strength caramel soy latte is not something to turn your nose up at just because you believe that the blend that you have spent months crafting (perfecting the extraction by adjusting both the temperature and pressure of the extraction on your very expensive, state of the art, retro espresso machine) would be not spoiled but soiled by the addition of caramel syrup.
It is what the customer wants and it shouldn’t be news to you that customers are only prepared to pay for something that they want!
Too often I come across people who have forgotten that they have customers (internal as well as external) and haven’t bothered to think about (or even ask) what it is that their customer is looking for. In the case of the barista, taking 25 minutes to produce a cup of coffee (however perfect it might be) does not take care of my concerns as a customer – unless I have specifically said I am prepared to wait for the cold, drip filter process to complete.
Over-servicing is just as bad as under-servicing and results from failing to take care of your customer’s concerns. If you serve up the best half strength, caramel, soy latte on the house blend that he has ever tasted then you can be sure he will come back and he will bring his friends.
Whatever you do, just don’t get it confused with my piccolo on the Colombian “Santaurio” Geisha vareital roasted by my favourite roaster!
And please, make sure it arrives with a smile.
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Surrounded by people you love…
“We have created a business we love based on a certain ethos and it attracts people we love with a similar ethos. It is great to travel through life surrounded by people you love and who inspire you to be a better person.”
Sometimes somebody else writes the blog post you have always planned on writing about the people who inspire you. This is one of them.
Read it and then go find Marcus at Bunker and buy a coffee off him.
http://www.theurbanlist.com/brisbane/a-list/close-encounter-marcus-allison-bunker
By Kim Barnard on theurbanlist.com
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Antiques made daily
At first glance that seems like an odd sign to put out the front of a small antique store.
You don’t go there looking for anything made today, or last week or even last year.
You go there looking for something that has stood the test of time, something that was built to last…
and did.
You may expect to pay a premium price but not for an ‘antique’ that was made today. That is not what we want!
Except I do.
I want an antique that was made today. Something that was built to last. Something that will stand the test of time. It annoys me that very little is made to last these days. Very few businesses set out to do that.
For that matter, very few businesses seem to set out to last.
I don’t want to be a part of that.
I am tired of throwing away little pieces of my life when last year’s fan stops turning or this year’s software version will not run on that hardware. And it is a piece of our life that we throw away. You (or someone you love) spent their time “at work” to earn the money to pay for it. They exchanged a precious few hours of their life for the cash needed to buy it. They were precious few hours they did not get to spend with you or you with them. So when you throw that thing away a little part of your lives gets thrown away with it.
I don’t want to be a part of that.
Sometimes that means spending extra time on something to make sure that it will last, so that it will one day be an antique. That’s ok with me. It think that is time (and life) well spent. And if it just happens to be a relationship that you are building to last then all the better. Without relationships we are nothing.
So if you come by my place sometime don’t be surprised when you see a sign above my desk that lets you know exactly what I am trying to do. The sign says…
Antiques made daily.
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I promised and now I have a new puppy to take care of.
Image Courtesy of RustyAmber Labradoodles
Over the last 12 months I have come to the realisation that I am surrounded by puppies.
Puppies that I have promised to take care of. Puppies that people trust me to take care of for them.
Some days there are so many of them I am not sure I will be able to manage. It has gotten to the point where even though I would love to offer to take on more I have had to stop myself.
I have had to say no.
Kids make promises all the time. “I promise Mum, I will do my homework tonight.”, “I promise I will be good.” “I promise I won’t spill it…” “This will be the last time I ask,I promise.”.
“I promise I will look after the puppy! I will feed it and give it water and I will clean up his messes.”
But as a ‘grown-up’ when was the last time you made a promise?
When was the last time you kept a promise? Or more importantly, when was the last time you took care of a promise for someone?
Did you listen to that last question?
When was the last time you took care of a promise for someone?
Took care of it like you would take care of a puppy? Fed it. Watered it. Cleaned up any messes. Really took care of it.
Do you even think of promises that way? Or do you think that you stopped making promises about the time you left primary school?
My friend and colleague (and coach and mentor) Phillip Crockford has been working with me (and letting me work with him) to help me see that the promise is the fundamental currency of every relationship in our lives. We make and accept (and hopefully keep) hundreds of promises every day in all aspects of our lives.
Some are big promises… “… ’till death do us part”, signing on to play as part of a team for next season, the confidentiality between doctor and patient, lawyer and client, the confidentiality between friends.
Some are small promises… getting milk on the way home, getting the meeting minutes out before the end of the week, not swearing so much.
But big or small, each one of those promises is something that we have promised to take care of for someone else.
Each promise is a like puppy you are looking after for someone else.
Their puppy.
You cannot just say you will look after it and then leave it in a box in the corner.
You cannot just say “Sorry, things got really busy last week and I didn’t get around to feeding it or giving it water. I meant to tell you but it just slipped my mind…”
You said you would look after it for them – so look after it.
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there are no points for not playing
A: Somebody is going to get hurt; and 
B: There is no room for anybody else.
It was absolutely engrossing and I just could not look away. Surely the bell would ring soon and bring the madness to an end?
Twenty-two kids and three balls on the same basketball court. Three separate games going on at the same time – probably four if you count the group that would occasionally ignore the main game and chase each other around the court just for fun. Getting to the basket was not as simple as getting by your opposing team, you had to get through the two other teams who were playing their own game! Sometimes the small group of kids who were playing with the soccer ball would be shooting at the same time as the large group playing with the basketball. Other times they all would meet in the middle with the kids playing their own game.
It was chaos and I was sure someone was going to get hurt.
And then a couple more kids arrived. Surely someone was going to stop them taking to the already crowded court? They must see there was no space for them to play.
Nope. They didn’t even blink. They walked straight on to the court. They bought their game and they played among everyone else already filling the space.
Which got me thinking about the spaces that I want to play in.
I am putting together a new coaching course focused on helping leaders at all levels craft and deliver their communications. It draws on my experiences as an actor and director, as a barrister and mediator and on some new ontological and psychological research I have been drawing together. There is nothing like it in the market place – it is a different kind of game.
But there a lot of people who are vying for space on the court. There are a lot of people who may look at the game I want to play and say the court is already too crowded with people playing the “presentation skills” game. There is a voice in my head that agrees with them and is trying to convince me there will be more than two or three other teams running a full-court press towards the same goal and that they will stop me from finding a space for me to bring my unique approach. So why should I even try to get on the court?
Because you don’t get points for not playing.
The only thing that really matters is whether you are on the court. Sure it is crowded. And you are going to get bumped and jostled and yes maybe even hurt.
And sometimes there will be people shooting for the same hoop at the same time.
And sometimes they will make their shot and you will not. So what?
Show up and get on the court. You have the opportunity to play so play.
Now.
If you don’t the bell will ring and the opportunity will be taken away from you.
So that is what I am going to do. If you are interested in playing with me and taking a new and powerful approach to crafting and delivering your message then give me a call – there is always space for one more.
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