Business Strategy Hey, Fix That Blemish on My Car!
Almost everyone has purchased a new car during their lifetime. A few unsatisfactory situations aside, most people are very happy to have a new car. Most of us get the car and proudly parade it around the neighbourhood to show it off. It’s an awesome moment. When we receive the car, we carefully go over it and make sure there are no blemishes or marks on the vehicle. If we find any, we are sure to mention it to the salesperson with the expectation that they are going to fix it. We go over this car with an eagle eye to make sure we have not missed anything. Then we hop in the car and go to work and everything changes.
At work, many people become very different. That attention to detail all of a sudden seems to fade away like an old memory. People get to work and begin to do their job that requires them to deliver products and services to other people. These products and services are supposed to fulfill a need, just like that car. And yet when all is said and done, the product that gets delivered to the customer turns out to be like a new car that’s delivered with dents and scratches. What a disappointment!
The people who demand the highest level of attention when they buy products such as a car are unable to deliver the same attention to detail to their customers at their job. Is it because they don’t care? It is really hard to tell. Many people say this is a reflection of bad management. It makes me wonder if those who blame management are looking for a scapegoat to pin their poor attention to detail on. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of bad managers out there but I have yet to encounter a situation where I have heard a manager tell an employee to do a poor or substandard job.
What really bothers me is that when people deliver a poor or substandard product they are actually compromising their integrity. In other words, they are not proud of the work they do. It is quite annoying to those who are really trying to deliver that perfect car or product to their customers.
Companies have instituted many systems to prevent poor quality products from getting to their customers. But in the end, it’s up to each one of us to make sure that the products we deliver are given the same pride and attention to detail that we expect when we purchase products for ourselves.
We are a refection of our work and only we have the ability to control it. Let’s go make that perfect car for someone else! Hopefully it will give them the same smile we have when we receive an unblemished new car.