Shortening the Queue

Back to Obama again, and The Audacity of Hope. This is one of those rare books I am compelled to underline, flag, and mark. Here's another quote that speaks directly to the original theme of my blog, "I am convinced - although I have no statistical evidence to back it up - that antitax, antigovernment, antiunion sentiments grow anytime people find themselves standing in line at a government office with only one window open and three or four workers chatting among themselves in full view." (p. 73)

I've tested this quote against a few of my friends, and they laugh. They recognize the image. It does make sense. My friend was reminded also of bank lines, where perhaps four or five bank tellers are at their counter, but only one is open. A supervisor perhaps, the receptionist, loans officers and the bank manager also will be busy (or not busy) at their own tasks. No-one takes ownership to shorten that line save the one designated bank teller. For the person standing in line, do they feel valued; is attendance of their needs a priority? Oviously, observably, not. In return, how much loyalty and good-feeling does the customer build for the bank?

I'm reminded also of the business pundits' warning that companies who want to remain competitive should invest their time figuring out what the customer really wants. From Covey's book, "Predictable Results", "Clearly, the App Store is successful because it allows customers to get exactly what they want immediately and in a simple and inexpensive way. " How do you find out what customers really want? The best results aren't from analysing satisfaction ratings or survey results. These may be filtered or distorted by the collection method itself. Find out by walking around.

A great example of customer service is Pike Place Fish. I am re-reading their book, "Catch - A Fishmonger's Guide to Greatness" and I am reminded again that every fishmonger makes a personal intention - every day - to give each customer a memorable experience. I am a head-over heels, starry-eyed fan of these guys. A couple years ago, I went to check them out myself. I was increasingly nervous as I approached their booth in the market. Would they live up to the hype? Why, yes, they did. In a very personal way. I didn't catch any fish. But they did make my visit memorable in many small ways. I have the autographed book to prove it.

Visit the counters and the waiting rooms. See what the customers see. Inspire your front workers to take a personal interest in every customer that comes across their desk. Don't ever let it become routine, dull, "take another number". Let everyone who visits you for services leave feeling they have been heard, understood.

Customers have memories.

Happy to see you!

There's nothing quite like the welcome of a dog. Especially if the dog is the aloof Afghan, a lean, tall, sliver-grey hound who runs at you in a graceful lope, hair flapping, mouth gaping in a doggy grin. She stops dead in front of me and gazes deeply in to my eyes, radiating friendliness. There's no rough jumping, horseplay, or sloppy kisses from this well-bred, well trained, elegant dog.

Her name is Ariel and she is a senior dog. Her original owner has left her in the care of my daughter, who has known her from a pup. It's a great pairing. My daughter has had an enduring passion for Afghans, but has never dared to take the step to ownership. She is acutely aware of the responsibility involved. Ariel is a sweet-tempered and gentle animal. At this stage of life she lives to eat and sleep. She does not care for doggy confrontations, walking away from other silly dogs. She mooches for treats, steals if she can. And she sleeps, picking out her spot on the couch.

My daughter, steeped in doggy training lore, was stymied. She should not have allowed Ariel on the couch; that's an Alpha move. She should not have allowed treats from the table.

But Ariel is a senior dog, and well trained. If you ask her to move, she is happy to comply. She is tired, she is sore. She is happiest mooching a little treat or going for a little walk, not too strenuous. How can you turn down an old girl like that, the few treats she enjoys?

As I said, Ariel is normally aloof. She is loyal and friendly to her family, but not overly demonstrative even then. This is the Afghan way. I am touched that she has included me in her extended family. It may help that more and more I surrender to her charm and rush to the ice-box to see if I have a scrap of beef or chicken that she might enjoy. This might explain her delicate and whiskery greeting as she thoroughly sniffs my hand.

What impact could we have on our own families, if we took a few moments of our day to let them know, body and soul, how happy we are to see them?

Here's a link to my daughter's doggy matching service: http://www.finecanineservices.com/

Facing Fear Head-On

My daughter, my ever capable daughter, is facing a crisis. She is facing fears I had long buried, and brought them galloping forward. At the moment she is the only bread winner in the family. She is suffering burnout and her supervisor is not sympathetic. She can look for other work, of course, but a job hunt could not be happening at a worse time.

She is doing all she can to stay calm. She reminds me regularly that she must put all her fears on God so that she does not become embittered. She is practicing her smile. I worry.

The thing is, I thought I'd fought my battle with my inner fears, and largely won. It just goes to show how quickly they can come roaring back, and how careful I must be to remember the lessons from years past.

Fear can be helpful in a true crisis. A car zipping past my toes can set my heart racing, and for good reason. But of course in this wealthy society of ours, with it's vast web of safety nets, there are very few times to be truly afraid. There will be food on our table and a roof over our head. No terrors will come bursting through the door to threaten our family.

The fears that we usually face and are not so healthy are the grinding, niggling worries that all is not fine, that all I have could be taken away in a heartbeat, and that life could suddenly get much, much harder. This fear wears because the "enemy" is ambiguous, there is no fight to be fought, no place to run to. I've seen the product of this type of fear on some of my co-workers. Fear of the unknown "traps" them in a job they no longer enjoy. Bitterness does follow, and a formerly productive and happy person brings their own brand of poison to work every day. Besides their influence on others, I wonder how they can live such a compromised life? Every day must be a struggle. Surely the unknown is an adventure worth taking; both for their sake and for everyone around them.

Similarly, I caught myself projecting my fears on my children when they were young adults. I'd seen the results of fear parenting on other families, and I did not want that for myself. The mother who fears teen pregnancy (perhaps remembering her own failings) calls her daughter a slut in a moment of passion. Good parents burden a good child with curfews and ever higher grade expectations. Both parents want the best for their children, of course, but by projecting through fear they risk the very things they feared.

How much better to speak in to our children through our hopes and dreams, projecting our confidence, and reassuring them that they are smart and good enough to make the right choices.

Similarly at work, how much better to focus on the parts of the job that we love, to take control of our career, and to see change as an opportunity.

So anyways, my daughter's crisis brought home my own fears all over again. I want my daughter, her family, my granddaughter to be secure. If my daughter stumbles, how ever will the family be cared for? I am reminded of when I was a single parent, raising my two children alone, and facing a layoff with my employer. I was filled with fear that all that I'd worked for to provide security for my children would be ripped away. Our little family had come such a very long way. I feared the welfare line again. I remember applying like crazy for positions that came open. I fantasized having a few moments alone with the head of the organization letting him know personally the impact of the layoff on our little family.

Luckily I did not follow through on my bitter fantasy and found employment instead. I reached a new level of strength and independence. It turns out that the forced move taught me to walk with light feet and to seize opportunities as they come.

Now I must face my fears once again and be sure I do not project them on my daughter. When she faces me with that fragile smile, I'll smile back. I will tell her all will be well. Her confidence, her strength, her abilities will shine through.

Just give it time.

Obama, Media, and OJ

I am reading Obama's book at last; The Audacity of Hope. The title alone thrills. I've complained before that campaigns are won and lost these days on sound bytes and opinion polls. When did we stop picking candidates on calibre? Why would I care what Sally on the Street thinks, if I have no way of judging how much thought she put in to her answer. "I dunno, he he. I came here for the sale. What was the question again?"

Rare for me, I'm marking the book where his words resonate with my unspeakable restlessness in the way things are run these days. The first I've marked, "...I had watched campaign culture metastize throughout the body politic, as an entire industry of insult....somehow profitable - emerged to dominate cable television, talk radio, and the New York Times best-seller list." (p. 21) and "I am convinced that whenever we exaggerate or demonize, oversimplify or overstate our case, we lose. Whenever we dumb down the political debate, we lose. For it's precisely the pursuit of ideological purity, the rigid orthodoxy and the sheer predictability of our current political debate, that keeps us from finding new ways to meet the challenges we face as a country".

I am reminded even of the days leading up to Obama's inauguration, when the media finally caught up with the news that they were witnessing a historic event, a historic figure. What were we given on cable television? Breathless blow-by-blow coverage of Obama's arrival in Washington. What Mrs. Obama was wearing, how many times she touched him. Speculation on the closeness of their marriage. The setting of the stage and speculation on how many people arrived. An endless stream of endless sound bytes, mindless, with no destination or no purpose other than to provide a blow-by-blow for the gawkers. Kind of like watching the O. J. Simpson car chase.

I am sure there are royalty watchers that got a great deal from that coverage. I thrilled listening to the musical quartet leading up to the inaguration. I also took notes of Obama's speech.

What value is the mindless information filler that disguises itself as news these days? Is this all we require as a public, to be passive observers?

The draw of the internet, though, with the opportunity for dialogue and an interactive audience, however, speaks to the even greater need for the public to be involved, to be heard.

Paper Pushing

• A typical employee produces one pound of paper every three days. A tree is sacrificed every 4.5 years for that employee.


• The average employee spends more than three hours a day processing information. Half of that time is spent searching for it.


• Records staff specialize in organizing information, managing it, moving it, and search and retrieval expertise when needed.

We are all so different yet the same

I am married to a Jehovah's Witness and I attend an evangelical church. My beloved neighbour is Wicca. I've attended services of all three. You can imagine, with that proximity, that I've done some deep thinking on my own identity, what it means to be a Christian, and the dynamics of the taboos, prejudices, and prohibitions between these groups.

The demographic trend watchers lump us all together, you know.

We are all "spiritually minded", deeply religious, and typically entrenched in our views. So why is each group deeply opposed to the other? I know from visiting with my husband's religious friends, that they have a deep aversion to "Christendom". They consider us to be under Satan's influence and dangerously deluded. I must say my Christian peers feel the same about Jehovah's Witnesses. Few have darkened the door of the other because of that very fear. I've listened to urban legends from both sides of divine or demonic influence whenever a person has attempted to breach this terrifying barrier.

Take away the barrier, and what do you find? I've found the typical Jehovah's Witness meeting to be punctual, predictable, and dull. It "feels" more like a sales meeting than a religious service. "Worship" is relegated to scheduled, numbered songs. Supporting music comes from a CD. I've described the generic format of a Circuit Assembly, similarly dull, but eagerly anticipated by the average Witness. After all, it is one of the few annual events they may look forward to since they have been deprived of Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, etc., etc., etc.

So why the aversion, the terror? I talked about the power of groups to self-identify, even to the exclusion of others. There's the power of granfalloon. There's the risk that a religiously minded person, who has committed at great cost, to face the folly of their own choice. A "soft boundary" between the distinctions of religion would force us to give up distinctions that may not be there. Perhaps some of the traditions and forms are not so exclusive as we think. Strip all those forms away and what do we have? Self-delusion?

For most committed people, such a prospect is unacceptable. Better to exclude and avoid.

Or, perhaps, if we strip away the forms the substance will be laid bare. Maybe it is as simple as loving your neighbour, truly. Perhaps when all else is stripped away we are left with goodness.

Or, maybe, the easier choice is to blame it all on "Satan".

People Flock

I'm halfway through a book that is a collection of studies on how people react to failed prophecy; the book is called "Expecting Armageddon, Essential Readings in Failed Prophecy" edited by Jon R. Stone.

Article after article describes how a person can accept the most outrageous explanation, even when all evidence points to the contrary. One of the factors that helps a person accept unreasonable beliefs, is that he is surrounded others who believe it too. You might have heard of "groupthink". (Do follow this video link; it is hilarious)

It seems to me that we have some base instincts that drive us to follow the crowd. This would be a useful evolutionary tactic for creatures who live in packs; including humans. Once I identify with my "crowd", I will fiercly defend it. In return, I get protection by that "crowd". This ability to create groups with strong identities, even to the point of outrageous reason, may be called "granfalloons". What a grand word.

Besides the unreasonableness of some of these groups, I think another great hazard is the suppression of individuality. We naturally give up some of our rights to the crowd, in the interests of mutual safety. I suggest, though, that if the group insists in it's own identity being protected at the cost of individual, it has gone too far.

We see this happen in some groups (think high school) where those who are too different, and the dissenters, are shunned, mocked, or worse.

In Western society, where we worship individualism and tend to dismiss the power of groups over us, I think we underestimate the terrible power of expulsion from a group. The sense of loneliness and abandonment is severe.

What is the balance? Individuality must be protected, but extreme individuality is anarchy. The interests of the group are valuable, but a group that insists that it's own values and maintained at the sacrifice of the individual, suppresses.

The author who expressed this struggle best that I've seen, is Jean Vanier and his book Becoming Human. Jean Vanier is the founder of L'Arche, where people are invited to partner and live with people with mental handicaps, in order to get in touch with the essence of humanness. The commitment of these pairings is intense. Vanier's vision of a healthy group is one with soft borders, that has a shared vision of inclusion rather than exclusion. Healthy group, healthy individuals.