Sacred Cows make the Best Hamburger
This is one of my favorite quotes about true change. I will give you an example about the culture we live in.
I will title this the “Speed Cow”. The high-speed life that we live in is really a speed trap. When you’ve got the pedal to the metal all the time, you catch the “gottas” – the latest stress disease:
- I gotta make the deadline.
- I gotta prepare for the meeting.
- I gotta make my quota.
- I gotta read this, write that, review something else.
- I gotta check my voice mail, E-mail, real mail.
- I gotta make calls, check overheads, prepare this presentation.
- I gotta fix this, fax that, e-mail this, do all three.
- I gotta pick up the kids, do the shopping, make dinner.
- I gotta make this traffic light.
- I gotta ______ (you fill in the blank.)
Here is a sacred cow that needs to go the grinder. Speed kills, it kills service, creativity, quality and in the end, it may kill you.
Whether we admit it or not, we’re all in the service business and most of us have two sets of customers: the consumer and the people within our organization whom we need to sell or satisfy. The way we treat those inside customers influences the way they treat the end user.
There are countless ideas and theories about good service. Consultants make it sound like rocket science, but it’s really very simple: Service is about relationships.
It’s about connecting human beings – understanding their concerns, challenges, interests, and needs – offering something of value to assist them.
We were created to be perfect at this, blessed with the right equipment in the right proportions: two eyes, two ears, and one mouth.
But when you’re in a hurry, it’s as if you have nine mouths and no eyes or ears. There’s no time to listen and respond. There’s no opportunity to clarify, restate, and summarize. Good communication takes time. Standing in someone else’s shoes takes time.
How many of you do your best thinking at work? When you ask people that in groups, no one ever raises their hand.
The next question: In what room in your house do you do your best thinking? The usual response: The bathroom. Why? No faxes, no phones, no interruptions. No hurrying. Without the time pressures and the interference, great ideas begin their nurturing process.
Slow down! What are you kidding? I can’t afford to slow down. The competition is breathing down my neck. But actually you will do better by learning to slow down when everything around you is speeding up. John Wooden, the great UCLA basketball coach who won an unprecedented 10 national championships, offers this advice: “Be quick, but don’t be in a hurry. If you hurry, you make mistakes.”
Maybe this could be one of your new year’s resolutions, maybe not, it is up to you. Maybe you don’t have the time………..
Paul C. Williams
