The One Who Cares the Most Wins
Remember when parents used to really care about their kids talking back to them or cursing? For a time, long after the weight and the sting went out of certain “swear” words and they were just words again in common use – albeit not universally, some kids (mostly younger brothers and sisters) still tried using them for effect and to rile up their folks, but it was pretty clear that no one actually cared that much. Sticks and stones, etc. Plus, and maybe most importantly, saying this kind of stuff and meaning it – even assuming that the kids knew what the words actually meant – were two dramatically different things. And their parents got that, refused to take the bait, and generally let a lot of “noise” just slide.
But their older brothers and sisters didn’t waste any time in figuring out the most telling and effective new parental taunts to get under their folks’ skins again and they deployed them so efficiently that even the grown-ups got with the program and adopted the new jargon almost overnight. And, somewhat amazingly, it was a single word that said it all for at least an entire generation.
And what was that word? It was “whatever” (shoulder shrug optional). In so many ways and so many circumstances and situations, “whatever” said it all and got the job done – smoothly and succinctly. And, what exactly does “whatever” really mean? It means “I don’t care enough to care”. So there!
It’s one of those things that Aaron Sorkin only wishes that he could have added to the vernacular. For the moment, he’ll have to settle for “ya think?” and a few other choice phrases that you can view ad nausem on the various YouTube West Wing or Sorkin compilations. And who’s the very living embodiment of “whatever” every week on our TV screens? Of course, it’s Dana Brody, the daughter from Homeland. If Carrie cares way too much about everything, Dana pretty much lets her Mom know every single episode that she doesn’t much give a rat’s ass about anything that her Mom cares about and she sure lets it show.
But why should any of this matter to you? We’re pretty much in business after all – not entertainment, TV or the movies. But, as I’ve said before, no one sells a product any more – we’re all in the service business now – where the key deliverable is the ability to create in the customer’s mind the feeling of being sincerely cared for and cared about. Frankly, no one cares how much you know or how good you are at your job (except maybe if you’re surgeons who apparently aren’t required to have a personalities) - until they know how much you care about them. Caring costs a lot, but in the end, your people not caring is what kills businesses.
So the reason that the “whatever” phenomena should matter to you and your business is because the real message of “whatever” – which is an in-your-face, calculated, and painfully obvious indifference (however sincere or insincere it may be) - is a fact of life these days in too many places and, if you let it creep into your business and particularly into the attitudes of your people, you’re screwed. Your customers will leave in droves. And they won’t be back.
This is more critical than you think and something that gets overlooked too easily in the frenzy of rapid growth. I’m not talking about warm and fuzzy stuff – or Kumbaya crap – I’m talking about everyday execution of the fundamentals in your business. The truth is that, if as you grow, your people can easily get a little “tired” and think they have too much to do and that customers are a bother and too demanding and somewhat inconvenient, and when they start communicating that indifference to your customers, it’s actually worse than you can imagine. It’s like a slap in the face to the customers and they will pick up on it in a flash.
Why does it happen? First, it’s not necessarily intentional and evil in many cases. Almost anything can get routine and repetitive and it’s a short step from there to indifference. Second, passion isn’t an infinite resource and it needs to be reinforced and replenished regularly. Third, today’s younger employees are hard sells in a lot of ways. You need to keep in mind that at work they are generally more afraid of boredom than failure. And finally, anything that keeps growing and getting bigger always runs the risk of distancing your best people from the immediacy of the constant contact with your customers which is the very best feedback and reinforcement loop there is. Hearing the news – good and bad – from the horse’s mouth is critical to keeping your people’s heads in the game.
So, just like it’s unsafe at night to speed so fast that you “overdrive your headlights” and can’t see far enough ahead to safely stop in an emergency, a young company can outrun and outgrow its own energy and enthusiasm as it expands and burn out - not only lots of its loyal customers, but plenty of its best long-time employees as well. And when you do that, you find out that you’ve ended up with the wrong answer to the universal question: how big can we get before we get bad?
What can you do? You’ve got to spend the time and the resources to constantly reinforce the main message: that businesses exist because they have customers and taking care of your customers is ALWAYS Job Number One. Everything else can and should take a back seat to making sure that your customers know that you are looking out for them. And you’ve got to do it with a vengeance – with all your heart and all your energy. You don’t get to fake it til you make it in today’s super-savvy world. Second, the very best cure for employee boredom and indifference is challenge and curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity and your job is to make sure that your employees are always looking at new opportunities and new challenges. Finally, as always, focus. The smartest people I know care passionately about the few things in their life and in their business that really matter – the right things - and don’t waste a minute or give a damn about the rest.
As you’re trying to build your business and change the world, it’s a good idea to remember that a different world can’t be built by indifferent people.
PP: “You Get What You Work for, Not What You Wish for”
