If it was, wouldn't they make more of an effort?

If they were really struggling, they'd work HARDER.

I just spent 10 minutes in a shop unable to get help to open the locked sunglasses cabinet.

They're struggling only enough to complain and whine, but not enough to work harder to make things better and take my money.

Fail.

May your bread be low in carbohydrates Your cereal low in GI
May cholesterol flow through you freely May your son not piss in your eye

May you remember the dates of important events
May your putter be straight and be true May your wife be hot and occasionally horny
Especially if she's somewhere near you

Troy Jones

Dont push a bad position

This morning, Charlie did not want to go to Day Care. 

And he drew the conclusion that today was a Day Care day real early.

In fact, it was about 6am, but it wasnt the time that gave it away, it was his T-shirt.

For some reason, he identified the time to fight was when I tried to put his T-shirt on.

He arched his back, started making angry noises and fought to keep the shirt off.

At first, I pushed a bad position.  I tried to do it quickly.

Tried to apply my extra muscle.  Hold him down and force it on him.

He pushed harder, started screaming and tantruming.

Rather than push a bad position, where battle lines were drawn, movements were obvious and intentions were clear, I changed tack.

I put Charlie down and put his T-shirt on Fluffy, Charlie's teddy.

That was the circuit breaker.

Charlie stopped screaming, sat up and decided perhaps he too would like to put a T-shirt on.

Just like Fluffy.

Far too often in business, we stick to our first first plan, simply apply more force and go down swinging.  Sometimes its better to read the writing on the wall and be swift and flexible enough to change tack, change voice or change the way a situation is flowing.

As when the field of battle changes, so too can the process and the outcome.

Want to find out where and why... Let me know!

Sent from my iPhone

We did everything, spent far too much money in the process - and I was completely confident it would be one of her greatest days ever.

And it was. But in the car on the way home, Matilda confided in me that she was disappointed. Despite all the awesome things we had done, she was upset that there was no Stage Show performance with Easter Bunnies dancing on stage.

In her mind, thats what she expected, and thats what she was looking forward to.

I thought about it, and she was right. I never explained to her what the Easter Show was. I think she had every right to assume that the Easter Show, was an Easter show, starring the Easter Bunny.

On reflection, in business, I learned that its vital to set the expectations of your clients - of what is possible, what they should expect, explain what you think SUCCESS will look like.

Get your clients expectations out on the table - so that you can make sure everyone is working towards the same image.

Otherwise, unless you are totally lucky, and Easter Bunnies do come dancing on the stage - no matter what you do, you may miss the mark, and someone else could get the chocolates.