#110 service

One more thought about Carnegie and libraries.  The Carnegie libraries were the first to have open stacks -- previously books were kept behind counters and patrons had to ask for the books without first browsing them.  The design of the Carnegie facilities made books and interactions with them much more accessible. 

Many services have evolved from a closed model to an open one.  Early stores kept products behind counters, away from the customers.  Printed photos were often sequestered in files and not retrievable directly.  Textbooks in college stores were in the back room or basement; now they are out on open shelves.  In a previous era, gasoline was pumped for you; today there is no more telling the attendant to "fill 'er up".  Formerly food was only served to you in restaurants; now there are even self-serve yogurt bars in addition to soft drink stations, smorgasbords and Mongolian grills where people mix their own dishes.  Shoes were hidden in the back room to be brought out only one or two pair at a time; now big box warehouse stores have thousands of pair out on display.  The tellers were the only ones to dispense cash; now it is rare for people to enter a bank instead of the ATM drive-through lane.  And, of course, all the information that is instantly available on the web used to be removed from us and stored in books, libraries or reference materials.  There was effort in access and retrieval, whereas now there is virtually none.

I think about how we have evolved from service to self-service in so many contexts.  Is there really no value added by the assistance someone provided in the retrieval?  I don't think so.  Schwans gourmet food wouldn't be the same delivered in a box by UPS instead of your friendly salesman in the yellow truck.  1-800 Flowers is great for the sender, but not as much fun for the recipient as the florist truck pulling up.  I like having an academic advisor for my freshmen instead of on-line registration.  The sommelier can choose the wine for dinner anytime.

Think about the mix of service and self-service in your organization.  If the person or system providing the information isn't adding something to the process, your clients would probably appreciate automation or direct access instead.  But if you can distinguish yourself by truly enhancing the delivery of the item or information (perhaps by making an experience out of it or going beyond what automation could do), then I suggest you capitalize on that.  If you can add meaningful value, you should add it.

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
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