Direction

This will become the Weekly Devotional Thought blog in the Manna Church summer small group cycle and my christophermfletcher.wordpress.com blog will be my personal blog.  Don't get confused. 

Pace

Ideas are good.  Creativity is great.  I think that each of has more creativity than we give ourselves credit for AND we could use more of YOUR ideas.  But if you don't have time to think about the next best thing, you won't ever have these great ideas.  The trouble lies in your pace.  If you only have enough time in the day/week to get the pressing things done, then maybe you are doing too much.  If you never have time to crack open a book, or sit at your desk for 10 minutes and try to figure out how to do this job better/faster/stronger, then your pace is too fast.  Acknowledging that I am right will do little to solve the problem, either.  I know I am right, and you know that I'm right.  It is going to take the woman or man with enough guts to force themselves to start thinking past today and stop just doing the same things over and over again.  Try new stuff.  Fail at it - even.  The best ideas seem to come after a lot of other mediocre ideas have been tried and flushed.  Why not slow down and try something new?

It is my job......

Good customer service training teaches you to respond to a problem by assuming that it is your job to fix that problem for your customer. Sometimes, this means that you solve the problem yourself. Other times, you direct the customer to the person who can solve their problem. Take note - if you presume that it is your job, be careful to solve the person's problem the first time. If you cannot adequately solve the issue, best to not attempt and fail, but put the person through to someone with the knowledge to solve the issue. Example - I had to update the data plan on my iPhone by calling my service provider. As a member of a corporate account, I have to have the password and social security number on the account in order to authorize changes. I spoke with a customer service provider who asked for the prompts and I informed him that I did not have the information that he needed. He stated that he saw the problem, it was a simple fix and he felt "it was his job to correct the issue." Trouble is, he didn't have the technical know-how to fix the problem the first time. His "simple change" lead to a snowball effect that rendered my phone useless for a 12 hour period. The following morning, I re-contacted my service provider and ran into a lady who stuck with the party line "I am sorry sir, but without the necessary information, I cannot confirm that there is a problem with your phone, nor advise you on how to fix it." This is AFTER a 45 minute wait, mind you. Lesson learned? Of course. Presume it is your job, but take care that you consider the ramifications of your decision. If you are not informed, best to direct the person to knowledgeable party. Had the first customer service provider simply informed his supervisor and appealed on my behalf, I would have left the short conversation with positive feelings toward this service provider. As it stands, I am more annoyed than anything.