#1261 expired

Last night (the 13th), I went to my nearby* HyVee grocery store to buy yogurt.  The ones in front expired on the 24th, short of the two-week supply I was planning to purchase.  I thought I would look in the back of the row to find some with a different expiration date.

I did.  

I found October 27th.  November 5th.  November 12th.  More than half of the row had expired already.

You can see the vicious cycle: they did not order more yogurt because they thought they had plenty; I did not buy more yogurt because in reality they had only a few.

It is not the first time I have found expired goods at this same store, nor was it the first time I shared my experience with a manager.  Yet the problem persists.  

The real problem, of course, is not the yogurt, but the employees who stock it and the manager who oversees them.  It is much easier to put the new supply in front on the shelf and shove the existing ones in the back.  I worked in a grocery store and know that rotating stock is a pain.  It seems that no one at this store cares enough to do it.

Do you have employees in your organization who don't care? More importantly, do you have systems in place to test that premise so you really know?  Do you truly take corrective action when someone points out a flaw?  

There is a short expiration date on customer satisfaction.  Don't push it to the back of the shelf.

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

*in Asbury  Buyer Beware!

#1260 kindness

Today is World Kindness Day, a "global 24 hour celebration dedicated to paying-it-forward and focusing on the good."  I hope that all of you will participate!

The website provides several ideas to engage in this celebration, including sharing a kindness quote.  I'll start my day off by sharing one with you from a calendar hand-made by one of my favorite people:  "There is always something to be thankful for."  

As you go through today, make a conscious effort to recognize what you have to be thankful for and only focus on the positives.  For each lapse into the negative, vow to make amends by doing something that will brighten someone else's day.  

I'll bet that many people find that being kind to others is easier than to be kind to themselves.  If a negative thought crosses your brain about how you look, act, feel, etc. you need to counteract that with a positive gesture or affirmation to yourself as well.  Only allow good thoughts in your brain for 24 hours.

If you're reading this, you are literate, have access to technology and the skills to use it and are interested in self-improvement -- three legs up on much of the world's population already.  Pay all that richness forward and be kind to others and yourself today.

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

#worldkindnessday

#1259 salute

Yesterday was Veterans Day and I was surprised at what a marketing holiday it has become.  I have a friend who spent much of the day taking advantage of his free breakfast, free lunch, free car wash, free haircut and free dinner.  So many options and so little time!

Not that he, and all others who have served, did not earn these benefits.  They most certainly did. It's just that I don't remember Veterans Day taking on a life of its own until recently.  Now there are special sections in the newspaper listing all of the veterans celebrations and benefits.  Over 1000 people in our small city attended a veteran's service.  There were dozens of businesses that offered free meals.

And it isn't just on Veterans Day.  More and more businesses give military discounts all year round.  The military ID has become as valuable as a AAA card in providing on-going perks and bargains.

It seemed that many places were offering veterans promotions as a marketing tactic, rather than truly as a gesture of appreciation.  Those that went the extra step earned reciprocal appreciation by genuinely giving it.  (As an example, Texas Roadhouse's attentive service, generous meals including steaks and beer, and special hours just for this luncheon went a long way in making a statement to the vets.)

If you are going to jump on the Veterans Day bandwagon next year, make it an authentic celebration, not just a discount with business as usual otherwise.  True gestures, rather than gimmicks, are the only efforts worth saluting.

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

#1258 chunks

When I have the time or inspiration, I'll write several blogs in advance.  Often, I write them out of sequence on purpose.  Over the years I have found that it is daunting to have to write a full week's worth of blogs at once, but if I do a Saturday and a Wednesday first then it somehow seems easier to fill in the one or two days in between.  Pretty soon, several sets of two have been strung together to complete the week.

I think I learned this trick when writing my dissertation.  My advisor had us write chapter 1 first (what the study is about), but then he instructed us to write chapter 3 next (the shortest chapter -- methodology).  We skipped chapter 2 initially because it is the literature review (the longest, most boring and most time consuming chapter in the whole thing.)  Psyching ourselves out that we had chapters 1 and 3 done -- two out of five, it somehow made back-filling chapter 2 seem possible.

Think about how you can play this mind game yourself.  If you do all the envelopes first for your Christmas cards, it is easier to sign the cards and see real progress.  If you do the dusting in all the rooms, the cleaning comes easier.  If you reconcile your expense report for Monday and Wednesday, Tuesday is more likely to get done too.

Chunking out the tasks and creating smaller intervals makes the work seem much more achievable than staring at one large task.  Can you create some stepping stones today to help you cross the pond?

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

#1257 second string

At the last basketball game, the coach put in some second-string players with about 2 minutes before the half.  They got the job done, but were not as productive as those who had started.

I thought of this difference when I was looking at my eyeglasses.  I recently purchased two new pair of glasses* and it has occurred to me that I have a starter pair and a second stringer.  My previous two pair were interchangeable -- both first stringers that I could use depending on the color scheme of the day.  Not so much with these two.  One is practical; one is fun and I find that I have far more occasions to wear the serious-looking pair.  Inadvertently, I got a starter and a second-stringer.  Both are worthy of making the team, but perform different functions.

Don't expect that your whole team will always be versatile starters.  Most teams need a second string to relieve and to support the A players, to make practices workable and to allow for a few special teams. There is an appropriate role for the second string, and they can contribute much to the overall organization.

Think about this when you are hiring or purchasing something for your use.  There are certain items or positions that you need to fill with the very best you can afford, but you can  round that out with others and achieve your goals without hitting all three-pointers.

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

*See Blog #1167

#1256 sound bites

Instead of being called the Millennial Generation, today's youth could instead own the moniker Sound Bite Generation.  

Think of how much information they receive in small bursts:
> the National Park Trading Cards that I wrote about yesterday (Blog #1255)
> Twitter
> Texts
> Q&A format of "articles" in magazines that are more bullet points instead of paragraphs
> Instagram, Pintrest, sites with visuals instead of words
> Infographics instead of explanations
> Video games instead of books
> Television shows (with commercials removed) instead of movies

We could lament how the shortened attention span has made it challenging for young people to sit through classes, speakers, church services and more...

...or we can acknowledge it and deliver our messages accordingly.  Let "drone" be something that flies in the sky, not something that you do.

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

#1255 trade 'ya

In addition to vast outdoor spaces, the National Park Service runs hundreds of museums and is a major storyteller of our country's history.  Someone there acknowledged the reality that young people were not reading the plaques and displays that accompany all of the artifacts, so they decided to share the message in a way that kids may find more appealing.

Thus, the creation of the National Park trading cards.  

The Martin Luther King Historical Site in Atlanta has been summarized on five cards, each with about two sentences of text.  I suspect the hope is that the junior visitors will at least capture the key points of the exhibit, and show less reluctance to visit all five facilities at the site.

Can you learn a lesson from the trading card concept?  I think there are plenty:  Not all of your messages have to be lofty.  It is important to appeal to your audience where they are.  A great visual is tantalizing and can draw people to your message.  Less is often more.  Great copy with a web link can inspire people to follow up and learn later.

Dr. King taught many lessons about justice and integration.  Perhaps his legacy can live on to teach your organization another lesson about sharing stories in modern ways.

Anyone have an Ebenezer Baptist Church card to trade?

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com