Dear ,

There have been two recent events that happened to me and I wanted to share.  Both events are a lesson for us all. In both instances, it was easy to predict they were going to be negatively resolved but instead they ended up being resolved positively and to the benefit of all. 

The first was dealing with transitioning our full time employee out of CMI and transitioning in our half time employee Quinessa. Clearly, having someone being forced to leave an organization can be stressful and traumatic leaving the participant feeling as if he/she is a victim and loser. Our transition was not like that. In fact, my sense is everyone felt supported and fulfilled.  How this was possible and what were the ingredients that allowed this to occur?  Here is what I see were the key components in making this a positive change:

• Being straight in conversations.  I spoke with the employee and explained my views on what was impacting the company. Work was down and there did not seem to be enough to keep her busy. I assured her reducing her hours would not happen immediately but, it was an issue that needed to be handled. This opened the door for the employee and I to have a number of candid conversations on the options.
• Instead of grieving over the possibility of losing her job, the employee put 100% of herself into finding employment that would fit and fulfill her needs. She wished us no ill will and stuck with us until the end.
• Though all of our interactions were not positive, I will say the vast majority of them were. 
• I made a commitment to assist her in landing on her feet with a job that would support her as well as a commitment to creating a structure which would support CMI. We were always looking at how we could create this outcome.
• My office manager and I were in real communication on how we could redesign the company and support everyone.  We designed a strategy to attract a great half time person. 

The end results were the employee found the job of her dreams.  For the last few months, she was not pleased with her job here at CMI. Her current position is a better fit for her talents, has the possibilities of advancement and is an increase in pay. Our new half time administrative assistant is a great fit for this position and is very excited about CMI.  Quinessa was able to be trained, so a situation that was going to be a lose, lose turned around and became a win, win.  This is an outcome I like.

Onto the second event. My auto was being serviced and I had a rental car from Enterprise. My vehicle’s warranty had expired, but at the insistence of Honda, I had a new engine put in free of charge.  That company truly stands behind their product but that is a story for another time.  On the second day of this rental, I lost the car key.  I had a meeting scheduled for 1:00 pm. It was early morning when I called Enterprise from the office.  Tracy said I was the customer from hell.  I thought I was just intense…OK I was the customer from hell.  

I went into the call acknowledging I lost the key. In spite of that, they needed to help me and help me NOW. Well that strategy did not work.  The person I originally spoke with turned me over to Brian whose solution was to have the car towed in and I pay for the tow as well as $150.00 for a new key. Not an ideal outcome. I became exasperated and despondent. There was a number on my contract to call if I got in trouble so they could help me.  This turned out to be a Vice President's number and I got voice mail.  I left a message explaining my problem and how things were not going well. 

In the interim, I began to understand what Tracy was saying. I stopped being the "righteous" customer from hell and surrendered to the situation. I arranged to rent a car from Budget. I was about to call Enterprise to ask them to pick up their vehicle when the phone rang. It was Jaime from Enterprise.  He was having someone go to the corporate office, get an extra key and have it delivered to my house by 12:30 PM. This was a song that I liked. Apparently, the Vice President had brought sanity to a bad situation. 

So Enterprise recovered. The customer from "hell" kept his Enterprise rental which lasted an additional week. I am happy at the outcome and will rent from Enterprise again. I will also pay for the lost key. I was on my way to being an enemy for life but the situation was resolved to my satisfaction.  It was a little rough, took a few too many phone calls, but in the end was resolved in such a way allowing me to do business with this company again.

So, the message is, although a particular outcome can be predicted, it does not necessarily need to happen. Commitment and possibility trumps predictability.  Seemingly bad situations can be turned around and made into good ones. Difficult employee situations, when interacted within a straight and positive manner, can result agreat outcome. Bad customer situations can be turned around so the customer becomes more loyal. 

May you have the best fourth quarter ever.

Let me know how I can serve you and your organization in getting beyond the nine dots. 

Be well,

Bruce

It is hard to believe that we are almost two thirds through 2007. In my twenty five years of supporting small and mid sized companies, it has been my experience that a planning process with your companies' leadership team is critical to maintain sustained growth and health.

CMI has been in the forefront of designing powerful yet simple methodologies that allow companies to focus and differentiate themselves. We have been very successful in helping our clients grow and develop. We do not expect this to change. It may even become more challenging. Having a leadership team that is focused and able to perform well together is critical for the long term success of an organization. Again, we have developed a technology that allows leadership teams to access high performance.

To learn more about our BREAKTHROUGH BUSINESS PLANNING AND TEAMBUILDING SERVICES, visit our website at www.cmiteamwork.com. I request an opportunity to talk with and assist you in thinking through your 2008 planning process. To set up an appointment and/or visit click here.

I look forward to hearing from you and being a resource as you explore how planning can dramatically impact the growth and health of your business.

Be well,

Bruce