Working at the speed of smell
One of the most damning frustrations in my line of work is wait time. It seems that excitement and sense of urgency never line up with the availability of material, labor, or money. Dealing with this frustration has translated into a maturity that I had not considered or even knew to know about as I plod the entrpreneural tundra.
Have you heard,"The squeeky wheel gets the oil" or any number of other variants? I am not a fan of being squeeky. I like to get in line like everyone else. I like being treated like everyone else. We are all in this together and we all learned fairness on the playground. But in this world, not everyone shares my value. Not everyone has held onto the playground rules we all learned. Jumping to the front of the line seems to be a life-focus for many people.
So, I have learned that 'fair' is a floating value that I alone define each and everyday. I can fly off the handle and be upset at being skipped over for the third time at the bar-rail or I can tip better and move up on the priority list.
Today I needed some information from my lumber company, information that would usually take a week to obtain. I want it now. This is the information age and snail mail is completely NOT the process I expect for any business related communication. I asked my supplier to try harder. And he produced what I needed in about an hour.
And I am very thankful for this extra effort. Sure, I am the person spending a good chunk of money with him, but I like to think that this did not become the only reason Frank jumped on my request. I like to think that Frank works hard, appreciates exceeding expectations, and knows that customer loyalty is a multi-facited effort.
So here on December 14th, I get a pass on wait-time frustration. I get to move onto the next step and battle again for speed. And I will likely need to couch the request as extra effort. But if this is what it takes to move quicker, spend less, and smile more: squeek squeek squeek.
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