Steve Marr.org

When thousands of passengers on the Carnival Cruise ship Triumph were stranded after an engine fire disabled the ship, the story filled the news for days.  This situation is an excellent example of trade-offs. Passengers get a nice vacation package with good food, service, and ship activities at a low price. However, the trade-off is that the cruise ship industry is not covered by most U.S. regulations. Carnival passengers who complained that the ship did not meet U.S. standards need to think through what it would cost to make that happen.

“Tom” owned a local store selling printer cartridges and posted a sign announcing that he was going out of the business. The owner blamed a slow economy. Maybe; maybe not.

I purchased around $600 of cartridges over the past year. On two occasions, I stopped by before closing time to find a note posted: “Closed early.  Sorry.” Since I needed the cartridge I drove to Office Depot, another ten minutes away.  In each instance, Tom’s store lost a $50 sale.

Then, I experienced another issue with the store. I needed a cartridge, but it was out of stock. The owner promised to have one by the next day. I stopped by the next day, and no cartridge.  He promised to have one by the next day. Again, there were no cartridges when I returned. Again, Tom promised to make sure to have one in stock that he would hold for me.  I returned a third time a few days later.  He told me that he was sorry, but he sold the cartridge.  However, he told me that he could order another.  I’m sure he could have, but I drove back to Office Depot that day and in the future.   If others experienced my frustration, he went out of business due to poor service and not a poor economy.

Jesus taught, “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning.” (Luke 12:35, NIV)  We need to be ready to meet our customers’ needs and keep our promises to them.

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Often we hold the position that some people are leaders and others are not. My view is that everybody is a leader in something. A mom and dad lead their children. An hourly worker, who is very good on the job, becomes a leader to other workers. Even when we invite someone to church or a ball game, it’s a form of leadership.

I often work with people who are technically competent in their field. Some of these people are true masters. Frequently they struggle with business issues and wonder why. The answer is that technical skill is not enough to generate business success.

The Wall Street Journal recently carried an article on active workstations. Some people have installed workstations with a treadmill or elliptical machine in an effort to exercise while working. The Mayo Clinic conducted a study with transcriptionists using such workstations.  They learned that those who typed while walking produced 16% less work.