The Goat in The Bathtub

Our business, not unlike others,  is built upon delivering what a client needs in a timely and professional manner. One of the very valuable services we provide while pursuing this is goal is creative design of advertising. We are fortunate to have a very capable staff that creates over one thousand ads every month for our list of clients. The needs are often fairly straight forward. Basically, the ad needs to look good, be readable, be a professional individual reflection of the business and include  graphic elements that grab attention.

Recently one of our advertising professionals sent in a request to have the creative department, put a goat in a bathtub. The client, a unique gift shop, was planning a clearance sale and some of the clearance items were products made from goat milk. Thus the goat in the bathtub, covered in soap bubbles, represented a clearance sale! Our creative department has many resources available to them that provide excellent and very professional graphic elements they can select to use in the ads they build for our customers. However, a goat in a bathtub is not on the list. Therefore this customized graphic had to be created.

When the special request was received by our graphic department to put a goat in a bathtub, the response was one of; "We can do this" rather than, as others may respond to special request; "We cannot do this", We are not allowed to do this", We have never done this" and on and on with a exhaustive list of why something special can't be done instead of why something special can and should be done.

We have all made special requests from time to time and how the person, business or organization we are making the special request of responds, speaks volumes to their commitment to high caliber customer service. The lengths they are willing to go to to meet the requests will likely determine the value that is placed on their brand. Brands that are well known for going the extra mile are typically those brands that enjoy great levels of loyalty. The fullfilling of special requests starts at the top of any organization and flows through the hearts of the folks doing the job of meeting customer needs. It is a matter of culture. Does your culture allow you to put a goat in a bathtub or not? Ours does.

Attention All Students

School is about to start, just as school starts every year. I remember the excitement of the beginning of
the school year and then the reality of what I was in for, especially since I didn't care much for school. The beginning of school meant that I could, for the next nine months,  reconnect and stay connected to my many friends and perhaps make a few new friends. School also meant that high school football was imminent and that was reason enough, in my mind, to endure the exhaustive classroom drudgery. The things I liked the best about school were important to me but not academically relevant. The newness of the school year quickly wore off and the daily academic quest became more and more of a drag on my lifestyle. Homework was always getting in the way of more important activities such as sandlot football, shooting pool or just hanging out.

Whilst I was underachieving at my schoolwork, many of my teachers saw something in me that I did not, until later in life, see in myself. My Mother saw what the teachers saw. What they saw and what they insisted upon sharing with me was that, my self impression, that I was not capable, was entirely wrong. I was consciously not measuring up to my raw potential. I wasn't lazy. I was not focused. They saw a kid with unbridled energy headed it too many directions and found it very challenging to get my attention long enough to help me focus. I was the thoroughbred horse that just wanted to run and run, never making the turn on the track, I ran straight through the white fence, off the track and into the future.

What would have been if I had paid attention and applied myself during my school years. Here after all this time I still ask that question. Of course, I cannot allow the choices I made way back then to encumber me from achieving my goals and to a large extent they have not. But what if?

Stay in school, arrive on time, meet deadlines, apply yourself, be thorough, get the help you need, behave, show respect to your teachers and they in authority. Your school years are some of the most tremendous and turbulent times of your life. They matter, you matter and your teachers matter. Act like it, because you will never regret behaving appropriately and making a great effort.

Horizontal Roots

We have a few nice size flower beds around our home. The gentleman who completely restored this 1920's home had the foresight to not only put in these nice flower beds but he also put down a weed-barrier. This black sheet of material is rolled out onto the surface and then covered with top-soil. The plants you choose to grow are planted within a circle you cut in the barrier, allowing their roots to grow deeply. However, when weeds grow, their roots are restricted from growing down by this barrier. This makes the puling of the weeds extremely easy. The weeds roots cannot "Take-Root" and no matter the number or variety of weeds, the pulling is a piece-of-cake.

Roots matter. The foundation you possess is a fine example of your roots. The root foundation is comprised of the people who influenced you, the books you have read and the things you have learned by experience. Adequate root structures require a fertile environment and that means you have to be willing to learn and grow at every opportunity, especially when you make mistakes. The taller you grow in your endeavor the deeper your roots need to grow. When the growth is too rapid and disproportionately vertically focused the roots do not have adequate time to grow deeply, the top-heavy result is unstable. You look really good growing so high so fast but when a challenge comes you do not have a sufficient root structure to be able to overcome the negative forces.

Growth is desirable but the right kind of growth at the right pace is the kind that will develop a deep root system that will sustain your personal and professional experiences for a lifetime. Grow deeply as well as tall.

Waiting On The Thunder

My hometown in southeast Texas had a number of freshwater canals and ponds. Just behind the home I grew up in is a large field that, as inquisitive and gullible youngsters we used to explore. It happens to also be the location of The Spindletop oil field, where a world-changing deposit of oil was discovered on January 10, 1901. This field had a huge fresh water canal and a massive storm sewer we affectionately named; "The Cement Ditch"in addition to several ponds of varying sizes and depths. These canals, storm sewers and ponds were excellent habitats for; Macrochelys Temminckii, more commonly referred to as; The Alligator Snapping Turtle. One of these creatures, according to The United States Geological Survey, reached an incredible 250 pounds! These are intimidating and formidable creatures who possess extremely powerful jaw strength. The local legend we lived with (because our parents said so) held that if one of these fearsome creatures were able to snap down on you, they would not let go until it thundered. We were terrified and therefore we avoided these guys at all costs, especially on cloudy days.

There are a lot of people who hold on to something, or allow something to hold on to them, far too long and as a result they are continually burdened by the additional emotional weight. Things such as: when they were treated harshly by someone close, when they were unjustly targeted at the workplace, when they were treated as an outcast, the times they were picked on by their peers, jilted and many more instances that were beyond control. Then there is the emotional baggage holding on that is entirely the result of the individual being held on to. The list may look similar to the things already mentioned. The damage is considerable independent of the initiation.

Let it go or make it let go of you. The alligator snapping turtle does not need a clap of thunder in order to let go. What the turtle needs is enough of the focused energies sufficient to inform the turtle that holding on is a really bad idea. Anyone can let go or make something let go of them by making a decision and moving on. You don't need to wait any longer.

When it is Okay to Talk About UFO's

There really is a time and place for everything. The things we talk about are important to us and ideally to those folks around us. We continually communicate verbally and in doing so we must be judicious as to the subjects we discuss and the words we use, especially in a professional setting.

There are subjects we discuss that are relevant, important and meaningful in our professional walk that enrich our experience and hopefully the experience of those we engage with. Discussions that enlighten, inform and direct. These are the good words.

Choosing wisely, what we say in any setting, figuratively speaks, to the thought we have put behind our statements. The flip-side is that some folks  engage their mouth long before they engage their intellect. When you are in a professional setting your discussions should be largely about the tasks at hand. Sharing personal experiences, events, attitudes and opinions in a professional setting is going to happen. The problem arises when that is ALL someone continually offers and therefore the perception is that this individual spends greater energies with personal things that are not helping move the collective-professional-process forward. Then, they become a distraction and may lead the entire team off a cliff. This manifestation of a distraction is one that is often challenging to overlook and will likely lead to an uncomfortable event when eventually someone gets fed-up and takes the "distraction" to task.

So, after work, when you are with people you trust feel free to share your experience with little green men from Mars. But don' t be disappointed if they look at you funny and strongly encourage you to keep the Encounter of the Third Kind to yourself.

Enough is Enough

There is a world renown restaurant that cooks some of the best barbecue in a state that is known for great barbecue. Day in and day out this eatery serves hundreds of folks. Many of these folks are from far away places. They drive many miles to enjoy the food and the ambiance.

This restaurant has a great and very successful business model for, doing enough, to serve their patrons without doing too much. You see, this restaurant cooks a limited amount of barbecue on a daily basis. They open the doors at the same time every day and close the doors whenever they run out of barbecue! Some days they run out just after lunch and some days it takes a bit longer. They always run out before dinner time, but they always sell-out! This business has a fantastic brand and they protect it by doing enough for their customers but they do not clamor to do too much. They know the amount of business they can do, at a very high quality level,  on a consistent basis, so they build and plan their work around that manageable target.

There is a famous saying; "Don't bite off more than you can chew."

This is as true in life as it is in business. Far too often people get wrapped up in getting more and more, to the point of diminishing return. Some businesses are especially good at doing bad by
over-promising and under-delivering. They are so focused and geared on growing their business they literally run past the business they currently have and the business they can manage well. Enough is never enough.

You have no business getting bigger at anything that you cannot presently do so well, that the time it takes to achieve a high-quality desired outcome, is reduced because of your increased level of proficiency. "Enough" really is a finite place to be in business and it is a good place provided that you are not getting stagnant. This restaurant doesn't serve some good barbecue some of the time, it serves great barbecue all of the time. Growth is desired as long as it is not at the expense of quality.

Throw Up

The phone conversation began innocently enough. The caller had attracted my attention, minimally enough to lead to a computer aided presentation. We scheduled the web-based meeting and the call came in and I noted that it was just a few minutes late. Without any small talk, the presenter started delivering and after approximately one hour, they asked me how I felt about their services. Literally the presenter talked (seemingly without taking a breath) for over an hour, rattling off opportunity after opportunity. They threw up and the contents of the ranting came rather forcefully out of the phone and filled my office. A few of the 100,000 points they made during the never ending presentation did peak my interest and encompass some things that may hold potential for our company. However they still do not realize that since they never ask. The conversation was not a conversation at all, it was a auctioneer-paced dump of information the presenter had already labeled as important to me, as if I was just like everyone else. Even if I am like everyone else, I don't want to be treated that way.

Conversations are meant to be two way streets. When having a conversation make sure to include the other person by asking their thoughts as the conversation progresses. When you ask a question, remain silent and give the person the opportunity to think and respond. Don't interrupt as challenging as it may be to hold your tongue. Your goal is to team up, not throw up.