Wednesday, 28 July 2021
Customer-Driven Context
Some days you think you’re spuddling (a Susie Dent “word of the day”, Day 205), working ineffectively while being busy and achieving nothing, or spend the day chasing your tail. The day feels like that, but sometimes you surprise yourself by accomplishing something. That was my day today.
In response to a demanding customer (not pushy or rude, just a customer with high expectations), I spent the day pursuing a process that has been in place for what seems like eons. Emails and phone conversations went back and forth until I got all the information. I then compiled it up in an easy-to-read format. The customer gave me more information when we engaged in intelligent conversation. A good process was the output.
Culturally known working processes give the appearance of having a documented workflow. By the end of the day, the process obvious to everyone internally was not referenceable. When I sought to clarify the process with the documented one, I discovered it was undocumented. So, I got a sense of accomplishment with a few tweaks and placing it into the central process repository.
This sense of accomplishment came as a surprise to me because I’d started thinking I’d lost the day. It’s a process that needed capturing and would become valuable for customers when they understand our area’s “verbal folklore”.
The exchange reminded me of customer-driven changes and how a demanding or disgruntled customer can push you to improve your system and organisation. Admittedly, some customers will never be happy. As a mentor once said to me, as long as the customer provides feedback, they want to continue to deal with you – even if their input is critical and their vocals say something completely different.
Today's Cards
The Cards - Customer-Driven Analysis
Carryover Cards
Two cards carried over from yesterday; Breakthrough moved from Feelings to Influence, and Transformation was in Goal and stayed right where it was.
Cross
Intensity, the little spitfire card, is in the Now and influenced by a Breakthrough. A Transformation from one way of being to another is the Goal.
When placed against the day’s events, these elements look like; Intensity is the seriousness and passion I have for helping out the customer. The Breakthrough influenced my love when I realised that in helping the customer, I was also helping my future self. The Transformation happened due to the process and was what I wanted to achieve with the customer.
While the Distant Past shows Fighting but more recently, I’ve gained some Maturity and am more balanced to face a Thunderbolt in Future Energy.
The cards have accurately identified where in the past I would have been over-defensive and bitten back. In applying restraint on my comments and listening (Maturity), I was able to turn the day change from frustrating to satisfying.
Base
After Maturity developed in the Recent Past, it enabled me to identify Feelings of Awareness of the change, notably, around what has been causing the sensitivity and putting me on tenterhooks.
Others’ Views are witnessing me Letting Go. I clung to the belief that our area would capture the process; it was so good at delivering and knowing what to do. My defensive side avoided looking at the truth. Letting Go was possible because of the customer-driven improvement.
Hopes & Fears has the Friendliness card, and I hope the customer viewed the exchange in a friendly manner. After all, we were both able to assist each other. The opposite side of the hope coin is the fear my response wasn’t satisfactory.
Finally, the Outcome was Sorrow. Sorrow was at realising there are more folklore processes left to uncover and capture, and their discovery won’t happen until there is a customer-driven need.
References
- Osho, Osho Zen Tarot – The Transcendental Game of Zen, St Martin’s Press, ISBN 0-312-11733-7
