The Winding Path

Seth Godin recently described his experience of Apple’s misalignment of job execution with company goals.

I recently had a similar experience with my old ISP, iiNet. I’d lodged a billing dispute over an unwarranted $299 connection charge. I spoke to ten iiNet representatives over the course of a month while attempting to resolve the issue. I can honestly say that all but one consultant showed exemplary phone manners, but all but the last showed any significant display of true customer service. Phone manners are the icing sugar on top of the sponge cake of customer service. Without the icing sugar it’s not the same cake, but if all you get is icing sugar, sure, it tastes good, but you’re still left unsatisfied.

See, as Seth pointed out, the consultant believes that in order to “do their job” they simply have to be nice to the customer; doing something to appear as if they’ve attempted to resolve the issue. In nine out of ten in my case they did this by notifying someone else. For all the calls I made I only received one call in return, close to the time the dispute was lodged.

For the first call or two this would be satisfactory, after all everyone expects everyone else to do their jobs right, so informing someone else that they have outstanding work is considered ok. Yet if those other people also consider their job to be only appearing to do the right thing, then, as long as “the right thing” isn’t complete resolution, cases like mine end up in limbo.

Having worked for an ISP I know that performance reviews monitor quantifiable data like call times, but they don’t link individual performance with customer satisfaction. If the company’s goal is to provide quality services to customers, it must be the goal of each individual to do the same. It’s not “right” to consider any customer someone else’s responsibility, so it should not be seen as “doing your job” to delegate responsibility to someone else.

In the end my case was brought to a manager’s attention and he did “the right thing” by refunding the entire connection fee. Only in that case was “the right thing” inline with “doing his job.” But still, if all he did was to refund the charge, he also took the easy way out. He knew that after a month I would be in good standing to plead my case and, with the TIO’s assistance, win. He had no other option. I can’t comment on what did go on behind the scenes after my final call, but there were a number of team leaders who had been contacted numerous times and asked to return my call. Their poor performance needs to be addressed. Finally, the connection fee was one iiNet charged me on Telstra’s behalf. IiNet have lost money because of a charge Telstra were unjustified in making. That issue should be resolved between iiNet and Telstra, though I wouldn’t be surprised if closing my case also closed any further investigation.

As a result of all this I’ve switched my Telephony and Internet services back to Netspace. I have no guarantees that their customer service is any better, but incredibly poor performance from iiNet leaves me almost completely dissatisfied.

Seth’s suggestion that “Getting your team in alignment … is perhaps the first job a marketer has to do” applies equally to all forms of customer service including sales, customer service, and technical support. It also applies to internal relations as well. Or more generally, at any point where one person provides a product or service to another, the provider promises a certain level of satisfaction. It should be the provider’s goal, at every level the scope of the provider covers, to ensure that promise is always met in full.

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I can’t have a blog titled “The Winding Path” without a post about footpath etiquette now can I?

Why do some people think they own the world, and show it by swearing at you as they almost knock you over as they march on past? Why do groups of people meander or loiter whilst taking up the entire footpath, forcing you to get off the footpath they’re not even walking on? Why do some people stop abruptly despite the fact they’re in heavy traffic and you’re right behind them?

I find that most people living in a city are considerate of others when they walk along a footpath. A quick glance is usually enough to avoid a collision when crowding makes it difficult to keep to a straight path. Yet some people insist on ignoring common courtesy, sometimes unconsciously, other times willfully and aggressively.

Reasons for breaches of footpath etiquette

Some people get so lost in their own world that it takes nothing less than a near collision to snap them back. The most common example is the person who is walking along at a steady pace, then suddenly stops or turns around. A less common example is the person who suddenly veers sideways without first checking to see if they’re about to veer into someone else’s path. In both cases you have to slam on the brakes lest you plow into them. I hope for their sake none of those near collisions become real ones of the fatal kind, involving less forgiving, rapidly moving metal boxes on wheels.

A similar breach is committed by two groups of fellow pedestrians with very different agendas. The happy couple who slowly stroll along, oblivious to everyone but themselves can be annoying, but it’s very unlikely that they’ll bother you unless you’re feeling spiteful. They’re in love and probably won’t want that love interfering with anyone else’s lives; they just unaware of their negative influence.

Not so pleasant is the group of people strung out across the footpath, all members oblivious to the other people using the path, or each member refusing to be the one to drop out of the line. It could be a form of power play, where no individual wants to be seen as less than their friends so all refuse to give way.

A more forgivable reason is unfamiliarity with local customs. If you’ve lead a relatively sheltered life (meaning you haven’t been exposed to much outside your culture, regardless of how complex that culture may be) you’re understandably going to find it difficult to adjust to different customs. If it’s not clear that in Australia you should walk on the left side (and some people’s flouting of this unspoken rule makes it less than obvious), then you probably won’t realise it until you’ve had a few near collisions, despite all the dark looks you also get. A look doesn’t say anything to someone who doesn’t understand why they’re being scowled at.

Countries where people do not have much personal space are ones in which people are likely to jostle each other as they attempt to make their way through crowds. This is why some people will barge onto a train without showing concern for the people they elbow out of the way; it was necessary in their country of birth and has become habitual. That is no excuse for not trying to change their ways here in Australia, of course. Here’s a story of one American’s experiences living in Asia.

Low self-esteem will also influence behaviour. Some people think so little of themselves that they believe they should get out of everyone else’s way, and they do so, all the time. In some ways it’s good that this type of behaviour isn’t all that common, it shows that not-so-many people have such low self-esteem, and I do feel a little ashamed when I laugh at the poor kid who jumps sideways a couple of times to avoid being run over by businessmen hurrying to work.

One the opposite end of the scale of self-esteem is arrogance. Some people seem to believe that they are the most important person in the world and they expect everyone to acknowledge that by damn well staying out of their way.

Power, self-importance, and awareness

I think overinflated self-importance and lack of awareness are the two key reasons for poor footpath etiquette. As this study seems to show that perception of power, which could be considered the perceived ratio of importance, governs how much space one person will give another. Here’s a quote from the extract:

“Pedestrians deviated in their paths to stay farther from a male than a female, farther from two people than from one person, and farther from a beautiful than an unattractive woman. Sex, number, and attractiveness may be regarded as aspects of power, which serve to dominate various amounts of space.”

The more important a person considers him- or herself, the more power they believe they have, the more they delegate responsibility for awareness to others, and the more space they expect to be granted.

Do what’s best for all, including yourself

There are plenty of sites which list rules or guidelines to follow to maintain good footpath etiquette, or suggestions on how to deal with those who are less considerate, or just let off steam. Hopefully this piece will shed some light on why people behave the way they do, allowing you to understand and do your part to improve everyone’s walking experience. After all, it’s something we do every day and we shouldn’t take it for granted; some don’t even have the option…

Is fear of the unknown truly fear of things unknown?

It’s often said that we fear something we’re not sure about; the dark, or death, or what will happen if we quit our job before lining up another one. But is it the thing we fear truly what we don’t know?

I don’t think it is. When a child is afraid of the dark, they’re not afraid of the darkness itself, but what they imagine is hiding in the darkness. They fear the boogie monster, or whatever was in that horror movie they shouldn’t have been watching.

If we were truly afraid of the unknown, then the realisation that we can’t predict the future would be truly terrifying. Without psychic powers of prescience, we can’t say with certainty what will happen at any point in the future. We don’t know what’s going to happen. Yet we still go on living our lives as if everything will, more or less, work out ok. So why is that if we don’t know what’s coming up?

I think it’s because of positive expectation. We expect the sun to rise every morning, we expect to get to work safely, we expect our boss to have more work for us to do. None of it inspires fear (hopefully), because we’re familiar with those things; we experience them daily.

But what happens when you get to work and there’s a group of stern, important looking men having a very serious conversation with your boss. How do you feel when you hear there’s going to be a massive downsizing? Are you, an average worker who does good work, but should be doing a little better, afraid because you don’t know what will happen, or are you afraid because you think you’re about to lose your job?

So is it the things we don’t know which we fear, or is it the whisperings of doubt and negative expectation that we truly fear?