“Just use some Windex off the shelf.” he replied.

Sigh.  Windex doesn’t clean cruddy shelves.  It barely cleans cruddy windows.  One of the surest signs that the ship is sinking is when people stop even pretending to care about providing an actual solution to employee problems.  As a manager, if your employees are taking the job seriously enough to ask for advice or help, or to voice a concern, you had better listen.  After all, these are the people that have to bail water from your sinking ship.

I later found out that I was about the fifth person that day to ask for cleaning solution.  Leadership hint:  If five or more of your people are asking for something, it’s probably important.  Good leaders will craft a working solution to any problem brought forth from their employees, or at least show enough concern to convince the employee that it will be reported properly.

“Dammit son,” he spit through cigar clenching teeth, “quit looking at the stupid map and start moving up the hill.”

I always thought that was a particularly good point.  The best plan, no matter how meticulous  never outlasts the first shot and sometimes there is more to be accomplished after you get moving than standing at the planning table.  Sometimes, in our desire to be thorough, we create a gaggle of people standing around a sand table when all we really need is a leader to bum rush the hill.

“Why the hell did you run your men across that field, son?” he thundered at me.

“Well,” I replied, “Across that field is the quickest way between where I am now and where I need to be.”

“The quickest way,” Big Sarge replied, “Is the one in which you don’t get your men blown up in the process.”

Ahhhh….gotta love that Big Sarge transferable wisdom.  In life and business, we can sometimes clearly see our objective and feel the need to achieve it as quickly as possible. We can’t sacrifice others in the process, however.  Is it really worth sacrificing relationships and the working environment to get promoted two months earlier?  To get a deliverable done one day sooner?  Think about it.

As a young, strong guy, I used to load my pack out with extra gear and food and ammo.  I thought, “why not be ready for everything?”  One day, as I was struggling to heft my gigantic ruck up onto my back, Big Sarge walks by.  ”You’re humping too much crap, son.”

“But Big Sarge,” says I.  ”It’s the only way I can have everything under control for sure.”

“Soldiering ain’t about control,” he said.  ”And, you’re easier to shoot when you wear a heavy pack.”

If you apply it to corporate life, it still makes sense.  We can’t control everything, and putting all of the responsibility squarely on our own shoulders just makes us an easy target.  We need to delegate, lighten the load, share the responsibility.  That Big Sarge was one smart dude.

I used to flop on the ground like somebody had kicked my feet out from under me.  Why?  I’m scared of bullets.  Getting back up always took more bravery than I thought I had.  One day, Big Sarge looks at me and says “Son, you’re not bouncy enough.”

I think he had a good point which transfers to life in general.  You don’t generally get from point A to point B without ending up on the ground a few times.  Getting up usually requires more courage than staying down, especially knowing that there is probably more punishment to come.  But, in order to arrive at your destination, you have to become bouncy.

http://www.flintmcglaughlin.com/index.php/observations/view/on-transcending-instruction-with-impartation

He has a really well-spoken air which lends itself to clarity, and enough life experience to have some things of value to impart.  It’s worth a read.

The same thing applies in business.  Talking just to hear yourself talk robs others of the opportunity to add their two cents which, in many cases, may be more valuable than you think.  In the case of Al Queda in the wire, the value of guy #2′s observation needs no explanation.  In the case of business, guy #2 rarely gets to talk.

Finally, one day big Sarge grabbed guy #1 by the lapels and yelled, “Dammit son, don’t say ‘affirmative’ if ‘yes’ will do.”  The point was to say your piece, but surrender the stage and yield to the confluence of group communication.  You get better results that way.

I had ordered some postcards for my abstract art business to hand out at an event.  I ordered 50 cards and paid about $40.  No problem.  When I arrived, the customer service rep at the print counter casually informed me that she had accidentally printed 100 cards, but that she would throw the rest away and write them off.  I kindly offered to pay $15 for the remainder of the cards.  I was flatly denied.  Not interested.

Now, there can be no doubt that $15 for 50 business cards represents a substantial discount over the premium that I paid for the first 50 cards.  There can also be no doubt that at $15 for 50 cards, Staples would still generate margin over their variable costs associated with producing the cards.  In other words, there was profit in that deal.

I’ll explain it using a simple heuristic if you will allow it:

If: P=price paid by me, and C=cost to produce the products, and S=salvage value of the cards if you don’t sell them, then…..

Selling me the cards looks like this:

P(15)-C(5 or so, being generous)=$10 profit

Not selling me the cards looks like this:

P(0)-C(5)+S(0, cuz they’re gonna shred them)= -$5

See what I did there?  Congratulations, Staples.  You lost money when you could have made money.  No wonder your Q2 results look so pathetic.  Your share holders should really demand more.  You should really demand more for your share holders.

Now, this is to say nothing of the triple bottom line impact of simply shredding paper products that could have been put to good use.  I can very easily infer from this scenario that Staples would rather kill trees than give a discount to a consumer on an otherwise usable product.

Have I made my case yet?  Does this company even WANT to make money?  To make matters worse, the extremely rude service desk attendant was utterly oblivious to the tenets of basic economics which I attempted to use to explain why they should sell me the products at a discount rather than lose money on destroying them. She proceeded to talk over me saying things like “Thank you sir, have a nice day” loudly instead of hearing me out.

For shame.

UPDATE: Obviously I’m not ignorant of the realities of running a gigantic business like Staples.  I get that bureaucracy (highly structured, rule-oriented management) helps to manage a large number of people with varying degrees of training and ability.  Still, there needs to be some mechanism for people to take initiative and create value in customer-facing interactions.  If it makes sense, there needs to be an “easy button” to allow employees to be agile and entrepreneurial.  

I’ve heard that this may be a recurring scenario, since I’m now the Social Media dude in residence at the parent company of the Sherpa Blog, MECLABS.  Plus, I promise to start updating this blog more frequently. 

Equally important as being able to carry the whole place on your back is knowing when to let other people get involved.  Sometimes you have to have the confidence to say, “I got this.”  Other times, you have to have the grace to say, “Let’s collaborate on that.”  Knowing the difference is wisdom.