Customer Service - Up In Flames 1

This weekend, we're looking for a new dishwasher because it turns out that the one we have could catch fire. Given that spousal unit Dad and I frequently load up the dishwasher in the evening after dinner and set it to run later at night when we're asleep, that's a bit of a problem. More of a problem has been trying to figure out what to do about it and part of that has been due to less-than-stellar customer service.

When the recall was first announced, I just happened to catch it on Google's news aggregator and read the first "details" in stories like this one that didn't have a whole lot of information beyond the hotline phone number - not even the links to the recall notice with the list of affected appliances or the right place on the GE website to get more information. With only basic description available that matched the basic circumstances of our dishwasher, it seemed prudent to check to see if ours was one of the affected machines. Good luck!

My first stop was to the General Electric website. Nada. You don't think fire-breathing dishwashers that they tell you to stop using immediately don't warrant "front-page" coverage?

Follow the main site link to Appliances (and from there to Dishwashers/Compactors/Disposers), there's still nothing. Another week into this story, and now it's possible to find links to the right appliances page - look for the link to the Dishwasher Recall at the bottom of the left column. At least it's orange and "above the fold".

Still... it makes me wonder just how dangerous this dishwasher really is.

While I had to do a search on the GE site for recall information to find it, I have to say that once I landed on the right page, they at least made it easy for me to get what I really wanted - information on whether the recall affected me or not. The answer is yes, it does. I'll have to thank our ex-wife for getting me addicted to rinse aids.

So, now I get to choose - free repair of my 6-yr-old dishwasher (an appliance, that according to one website has an average lifespan of 7-12 years - or this one that I've trusted a lot longer says it could go as long as 11-13 years), $150 toward on a dishwasher style that's different from the original style we bought (and doesn't include the highly-coveted stemware rack), or $300 toward a truer replacement model that will result in $400 or more in out-of-pocket costs.

Wow, that's about what we paid when we bought this one - I was shocked to find prices have gone up nearly a 100% in less than ten years! I'm guessing not all of those costs are due to increased costs in production. No wonder they feel like they can offer $300 rebates out of the goodness of their hearts.

Suddenly, I'm feeling less like they're trying to make up for a hazardous design flaw, and more like they're trying to jack up sales of durable goods. And before anyone suggests that I repair and sell the old one (or sell as-is with full disclosure of the problem so the recipient can pay to make the repairs him/herself and know it's done right), catch the fine print - if you go for the rebate, you're supposed to attest that you have destroyed the problem machine. I'm guessing a trip to the dump with a major appliance is going to set me back a few bucks too.

While I'm a bit conflicted about what to do about the dishwasher, I am very clear that customer service could be greatly improved - starting with making it easier for customers to find the information that they need. Sadly, this performance is already a far cry better than what Whirlpool/Maytag customers have already been through on a similar recall. Ouch; at least they're learning - though exactly what it is that they're learning and whether it's any real help to us consumers is still a mystery to me.

Send your suggestions, if you have them, to me at techsurvivor@soaringmountain.com along with any thoughts you have about how customer service could be improved in these situations - questions about the recall(s) should probably go directly to the company involved. If you don't get a satisfactory answer, I'd of course be interested in that.

What risks are you willing to take for what you really want?

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Kimm Viebrock is an ICF-credentialed Associate Certified Coach who helps technology professionals and service-oriented technology groups develop and use their skills more effectively and increase their value within the larger organization, allowing them to do more, do it better and have more fun doing it. Kimm is devoted to finding the connectedness in life.

Got Satisfaction?

It seems we care about employee turnover again - on an international basis, no less. Finally. Frankly, I never stopped. In an ideal world, managers would always care about employee turnover, no matter what the market; and employees would always recognize they have a choice about where they work - again, no matter what the market.

I'm sure I've said before that treating employees badly just because you know they feel trapped isn't good leadership. Well, neither is jumping onto the keep-them-satisfied-at-all-costs bandwagon, especially if you don't know what you're doing or what you're really trying to accomplish. Good leadership means truly understanding employees and looking for ways to help them meet their goals in a way that's aligned with the goals of the business. Good leadership means finding creative ways to make this happen without overspending... so that you have the money to spend when it's the dollars that really count.

And if you have a manager who doesn't get it, then maybe that person isn't a pointy-haired idiot or a ruthless climber... maybe your boss just needs help seeing the bigger picture. Although I have seen plenty of managers attempt to rein in employee turnover by blocking promotions, and others who have offered lame perks in place of raises, and still more who do their best to 'do right' by staff to the exclusion of sound business practices, I've only rarely seen this done out of malicious intent. Usually it's just cluelessness and often that can be fixed.

Talk with each other; a cup of coffee or hot chocolate together is one of those low-cost, high-gain tactics that good leaders favor. Identify what the real needs are on both sides and look for opportunities to meet them. And if you find you need a roadmap or directions, you can always chat with me.

I'm curious; send a message to me at techsurvivor@soaringmountain.com and share the most interesting retention strategy you've ever used or had offered to you. I'd like to know what people really find useful and motivating as opposed to what just makes you want to roll your eyes (or worse).

What really makes you want to do well in your work?

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Kimm Viebrock is an ICF-credentialed Associate Certified Coach who helps technology professionals and service-oriented technology groups develop and use their skills more effectively and increase their value within the larger organization, allowing them to do more, do it better and have more fun doing it. Kimm is devoted to finding the connectedness in life.

Not in My Right Mind

I don't know about the rest of everyone, but sometimes writer's block turns into something more like writers' bottleneck. At such times, it would probably be helpful to just move onto the next topic instead of staying stuck. There's a message there somewhere. I'll figure it out & get back to you... well... sometime. In the meantime, given that I let myself stay stuck for so long, let me just point out that I'm thrilled to discover that a) some play can have a purpose and that b) there are really good, left-brained/analytical minded-appealing reasons for developing and engaging right brained thinking too. And some fun ways to go about it.

My father, a leftie, would probably be pointing out about now that given the link between brain dominance and opposite handedness, only the lefthanded are in their right minds. As bad a joke as that is, it's actually related to some of what I've been exploring lately more in-depth.

One of the perks of having a small person around the house is having ready access to Lego bricks - one of my all-time favorite toys - so I was pretty jazzed to learn not-so-recently-now (back in November, at the International Coach Federation conference) that there are some good justifications to playing with them that go beyond just having fun. The Lego Serious Play folks say you can actually unlock important information by playing with Lego pieces as a way of facilitating communication between the two halves of our brains - and yes, it does seem to work. At some point, I'm sure I'll get licensed to facilitate this process... I'm that interested in it. If you're interested in it too, be sure to let me know as it might influence how soon I get in to get this done.

Not only is the process fun, it's also based on sound brain theory, which means that it meets my definition of cool, being both neat AND useful. This engaging both halves of the brain to get at better answers is definitely in line with what I've been saying for years, even if it hasn't exactly been out loud. As far as I can tell, an analytical approach that is open to intuitive-based quantum leaps of thinking will always (and I tend to use absolutes rather lightly) be far more productive than either approach alone. This is what I call being logically creative. LSP not only helps make that process possible, the brain theory upon which it's based explains why it's so useful.

And now Dan Pink explains in hard terms why we should care to even look at a right-brained approach to matters when so many of us got where we are and achieved our greatest successes by focusing on one that is strictly left-brained analytical. With hard data that the most analytical mindset can appreciate, he explains in his book, A Whole New Mind , how and why that road is a dead end if it's the only road we travel. It's worth reading. And if it means nothing to you, then I'm guessing that what I do and how I do it probably means nothing to you either. No harm, no foul. When you're ready, we can talk.

I'm guessing though, that a lot of tech folks will get it if they stop long enough to really think about what's involved in their work. The ones who understand why it's important to be able to take ping pong, pool, or foosball breaks from time to time in the afternoon - because tech work is as creative as it is logical - will get it. Those who understand the need for logic laugh long and hard at the total lack of logic in, say, the Kids in the Hall sketch where the guy actually thinks he'll get the car started by washing the windshield. And who doesn't love a good laugh? The thing is, those who also understand the importance of the creative element will probably keep their jobs longer.

And if you accept the basic premise, then what? Figure out how to nurture and tap into that creativity, I guess. Playing with Lego bricks (with or without the Serious Play element) is one way. So is any creative endeavor, really... crafts or other artistic expression, music, you name it. The folks at Face the Music use writing and performing blues tunes to engage creativity toward a useful end, so do check them out if that's an appealing-sounding option.

I'm interested to hear your own observations about blending logic and creativity - send them to me at techsurvivor@soaringmountain.com and let me know... do you believe they belong together, or are they separate pursuits?

How can you use creativity to expand the reach of logic?

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Kimm Viebrock is an ICF-credentialed Associate Certified Coach who helps technology professionals and service-oriented technology groups develop and use their skills more effectively and increase their value within the larger organization, allowing them to do more, do it better and have more fun doing it. Kimm is devoted to finding the connectedness in life.

Corollary to Paradox of Play

So here's a thought - what if those team members who are not quite as productive as everyone else - the ones that are not so bad as to make their manager concerned, just have low enough productivity to be mildly annoying to the rest of the team - what if these people actually have some value that goes beyond what is measurable by normal individual stats? A sort of corollary to the the Paradox of Play as applied to teams, if you will.

I can think back on several teams to individuals that fit this general description. Invariably, these were the same team members that organized potluck lunches and other social events for the team. Sometimes the other members recognized some value to this social contribution and sometimes it was the source of some derision or overlooked altogether. But even when their efforts weren't fully appreciated, it sure seems to me that these people had a positive impact on the team as a whole.

True, if I have to choose between these folks and those who are more consistently productive, as a manager, I'd probably go with productivity. But I sometimes wonder if maybe there's some kind of synergy between the more socially adept and the productivity-focused that make the whole team more effective than it would be without them. They might not be putting up the same numbers as the other team members, but maybe they're helping to boost everyone else's stats simply by their presence alone. I guess that would make them some sort of a catalyst if it were true. Not that I can prove this theory at the moment but it'd probably be worth investigating, don't you think?

I'm sure that at the very least it's more enjoyable to be on a team that has some fun while they work and that's got to be worth something too, right?

If you have thoughts about the social butterflies one way or the other, send them to me at techsurvivor@soaringmountain.com - I'm definitely interested to get some more data on this one.

How do you balance fun and productivity?

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Kimm Viebrock is an ICF-credentialed Associate Certified Coach who helps technology professionals and service-oriented technology groups develop and use their skills more effectively and increase their value within the larger organization, allowing them to do more, do it better and have more fun doing it. Kimm is devoted to finding the connectedness in life.

What We All Want - Part II

My personal feeling is that there's something else besides making a difference that we all want. I thought about it while driving to John Moe's book signing the other night and was pleased to hear and read that he'd basically come to the same conclusion - for those of us who have kids in our lives, there are three essential things we all want for them. We want our children to be safe, healthy, and happy.

We might disagree on the exact order but these Big Three are pretty standard across the board. If we spend any time at all looking for it, we're bound to run into differing views on what it takes to ensure our children's health, safety, and happiness. But if we start with that common ground and keep coming back to it every time we get wrapped around the axle because of the differing viewpoints, then maybe - just maybe, we can, with some civility, still work out the how of it together in a way that brings people together rather than drive them apart.

It seems clear to me that this basic logic applies to religion as well as to politics. For some, feeling closer to God (pick your version) is part of the equation, for others, not so much. In both cases the health, safety and happiness is still a point of common ground. In the case of politics, it's a matter of what the government's role is in this equation - and the basic goals are still the same.

In the workplace, we might expand our viewpoints to include other goals - and even so, the same basic principles can apply. Somewhere, somehow, there is something around which we can establish common ground. Establishing that as a base point, we can begin to work from that known quantity of agreement to navigate the territory of the unknown. When we get to know each other as people, it makes all the rest of it easier.

Throughout, I find it helps to have an understanding our own minds and a willingness to listen to others'. Lean back, and open yourself up to take it all in, then carefully pick through what you hear to find more common ground and use it to expand your base. Expanding and shifting perspective need not be a threatening thing.

Here's what I like best about John's book - that he was willing to stretch his thinking that way and share with all of us the process. I found it fun and enlightening reading. I don't know yet if people on both sides of the convervative/liberal fence will feel the same way and am hopeful they will. My sincere hope is that more people will feel compelled to try expanding their thinking themselves than they will feel compelled to say, See, we're Right! or See, they are a bunch of losers!

I'm of course proud to have been able to share some skills with John that he has told me he found useful but there's an important distinction to be made here - I just helped a teeny bit with the how... the interest and ability to put it to use was all him and I'm way more proud of him and what he's accomplished. I'm hoping there will be many more to follow. It sure seems to me like we'd all be that much more likely to get what we want if we're finding ways to do that together rather than continually detouring to fight with each other about the best way to do it.

If you've managed to work through differences to pursue common goals, I hope you'll send your thoughts to me techsurvivor@soaringmountain.com so that the rest of us can get a better idea of how that works and where the incentives are to do it.

What would it take to expand your opinion of what's right or what works?

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Kimm Viebrock is an ICF-credentialed Associate Certified Coach who helps technology professionals and service-oriented technology groups develop and use their skills more effectively and increase their value within the larger organization, allowing them to do more, do it better and have more fun doing it. Kimm is devoted to finding the connectedness in life.

What We All Want

My son thinks I'm famous, a notion that I actually find quite amusing, especially since I was once (and he 'knows' it), but not for the reasons he's glommed onto now. When I showed him my name in the back of John Moe's book, Conservatize Me, I really only did it because I figured he might find it mildly interesting. And I steeled myself for an appropriately pre-teenager derisive (or worse, completely devoid of emotion) "Oh." Instead, what I got was an enthusiastic hug and wide eyes proclaiming my importance in a world beyond his own - Wow, you're famous! It was in that moment that I began to re-think my position on why we sometimes pursue fame, or at least appear to.

Sure, it's nice to feel well-regarded within my own family and circle of friends. And for some, fame or recoginition mean credibility, access, or power, which might be inducement enough to crave it. I'll even readily admit that there are perq's to being a celebrity that are kinda cool - getting invited to sit in the players' wive's section at baseball games is one that I appreciated - but I've always maintained that the downsides mean that (for me anyway) the equation never really quite balances out in favor of pursuing fame.

Thinking about what it is that makes me proud to have been on-air for all those years even when my performances didn't always warrant such pride and proud to have been associated with John's project in however small a way it was and exactly why it is that I'm so happy that just having my name in a book means so much to the junior member of the family all helped me to crystallize my thoughts on the matter.

For me, and I suspect for a great many others out there too, it's not the fame itself that matters so much. What matters is that it is a flag indicating that we've achieved something else that matters even more. We've made a difference.

Let me know at techsurvivor@soaringmountain.com how you make a difference. I always like to know these things.

What does "making a difference" mean to you and what qualifies as that?

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Kimm Viebrock is an ICF-credentialed Associate Certified Coach who helps technology professionals and service-oriented technology groups develop and use their skills more effectively and increase their value within the larger organization, allowing them to do more, do it better and have more fun doing it. Kimm is devoted to finding the connectedness in life.