“It’s Our Policy”

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A few days ago, I ran across one of those phrases I wonder about. A lot. I wonder about it, not so much as a customer, but as someone who teaches customer service. [If this shocks you, because you know about the writing and art journaling but what is this about training? Yes, I develop and run training programs for businesses. What can I say? I have a lot of interests.]

The phrase I wonder about is “It’s our policy.” After a lot of thought, this slippery

Policy decisions from Corey Smith's Random Thoughts blog

phrase is often used as a communication shut-down and means, “We do it this way, and if you don’t like it, tough.”

I’ve also heard it used to mean “Don’t ask me for special treatment. I’m going to treat you like this because I can.” And, “I am not allowed to make any decisions, and no matter what I’d do, this is what I’m told to say or do.” And even, “Logic would dictate some other action, but I’m sticking with the hard line, and it’s my way of telling you to suck it up.”

“Policies and procedures” is part of how a company gains obedience from its workers. You violate Policy and Procedures and you get a warning or fired. I was an “employee at will” long enough to be very clear on company’s policies and procedures.

As a customer, I hope to receive treatment that shows me how the store thinks about me as a customer, how much the store values customers, and what they expect from the customer in return. For example, every store has a policy that says if I want to take something out the door, I must pay for it. Makes sense. Right after that, the policies and procedures get fuzzy. If something is mis-marked, must I pay the marked price or the scanned price? If I have a coupon, and it is expired, will the store honor it? If I drop and break something in the store, do I have to pay for it? If a purchase doesn’t fit or I just change my mind, can I return it? For cash? Store credit? What do I have to bring with me? Every store has policies that cover those cases.

What became clear to me is that a store’s policies reflect their values. If they don’t value their customers, the policies are rigid and focused on bringing money into the store, rather than customers. If the store doesn’t want people to linger or explore their items, they will have policies that don’t encourage touching, asking questions, or displays that show different ways to use items. They will have employees who don’t care about the customers comfort, but focus on applying those policies.

Pretty much, policies are a training issue. If the people who deal with the public (store employees) are given rules by people who don’t deal with the public (corporate office policy-writers), problems will arise. If the store employee is not trained to use their brain, but just trained to enforce the policies, the store will lose customers. There is a name for stores that lose too many customers: Closed.

Policies directly reflect the thinking of the people who make them. They reflect management’s assumptions and values. They reflect how much management trusts their employees, too. If employees have no discretion in applying the policies, but must look at all cases the same way, it tells the customer that management doesn’t value customers as individuals or the store employees as thinking beings.

This explains a lot about how I experience different stores. And why I have become brand loyal to some and avoid others. The policies you set for yourself, and those around you, including your art, your writing, your creative work reflect your view of yourself and your life. What do you automatically assume? What is the value that goes with it? Interesting, huh?

–Quinn McDonald teaches ethics, customer service, four generations in the workplace and other tough topics. She’s also a life- and creativity coach.

Different? How Different?

There is a certain frisson in being different. Most of us really don’t want to be. We want to think we are different, but not actually be different. Different enough to still be interesting, maybe eccentric, but not stand-alone different. There is fear in having to explain ourselves—and failing.

These arrows are on the front page of all my journals. They show movement in different directions, but without labels.

There was a recent uptick in “be different and proud” quotes on Twitter and it set me to thinking. As an artist, there is a certain threat level to being different. There are fads in supplies and techniques.  Several years ago, anyone who could push a thread through a bead became a “jewelry designer;” those with more patience and talent made amulet bags. If you didn’t make them, your talent was suspect—as if you hadn’t reached an expected artistic developmental stage.  In the collage world, there was a huge surge in using photographs of people,  topping heads with pointy hats and adding a bird somewhere in the collage. It  moved from being different to cliche, with defenders and detractors. “Different” varies from “early adapter” to “outsider artist. It’s hard to eat vision or to feel connected to your path when you are alone and a large group of successful others are pouring out the fad of the minute.

Being different in the corporate world doesn’t often win awards, eihter. I once refused to fire a writer who was labeled as different. He was serious, bright, and had a talent for concise, image-rich, clear prose that drove home a point.  He was also an introvert and overweight. The department head pointed it out as “not fitting in with our image” and urged me to fire the writer. I refused, pointing to the employee’s serious talent. Suddenly I was the one who didn’t fit in, who refused to do as told, who had defied a supervisor’s order. Within six months, I was called in for a review and told, “You are different and seem to enjoy it.” It wasn’t a compliment, and I was pushed out of the company. To my satisfaction, the good writer remained.

It’s hard being different if it affects your livelihood or your ethics. It’s easier to go along to get along. Being different isn’t a label; it’s is a daily decision-making process that balances providing for your family, being accepted by your friends, and standing up for what you believe. Sometimes that can be quite lonely. It can cost you a client or friends. You doubt yourself. You struggle with the possibility that you are simply wrong.

We live in a world of image, driven by consumer values. There is huge pressure to be accepted, to fit in, to have supporters, successful Facebook “Like” pages, Re-tweets. Do you express your opinion if it is different from your client’s and she is expressing hers as the right opinion? Do you stay silent? What about a friend’s veiled slur against a religion?  What if it is your religion? What about a snarky remark about looks? Weight? Who do you defend, except yourself? We make small decisions every day, and they shape our character, our jobs, our lives. Be careful of the little ones. They change the shape of your soul.

–Quinn McDonald is a writer, artist, and life- and certified creativity coach. © 2010 All rights reserved.

These Aren’t Your Parents’ Values Anymore

Finding a creative project (or a job, for that matter) is rooted in knowing your values.

When I ask my coaching clients, “What are your values?” they immediately reach for the “right” ones–honesty, authenticity, conscientiousness, kindness, spirituality.

Startcooking.com tells you how to load a dishwasher at http://tinyurl.com/yff44ev

“Piffle,” I say and hear a shocked intake of breath, followed by a protest.
“Those words don’t have any juice in them. They mean something vague and colorless to everybody. I want specifics.” I answer. Usually followed by a long silence.

The word “value” has been de-valued. Think about the words we used to think of as powerful: “Passionate” now means “I’m interested in it right now, “Authentic” means “I can’t be the real me, because no one will like the real me, but I wanna have a tantrum right now!” “Abundance” is something everyone else has but not you, particularly money. So we need better ideas for values.

When I ask about what a client values, I like them to use examples. Because what I’m looking for is what is important to them in the way they do their work, creative or not.

For example, you may value the bottom line–love it when people act in quick, decisive ways. Hate people who dither and endlessly consider every crumb of information.

Or, you may value being careful, thinking of a lot of choices, leaving the door open for more ideas, more thoughts. Then, when you do make up your mind, you will have done so after processing information thoroughly.

Neither of these people are wrong. Both have strong values in how they make decisions. But if they work together, collaborate on a creative idea, are in the rolls of “boss” and “employee” they will not form a good match.

While it’s true that we can’t expect to find our perfect matches in a job, a creative collaboration, in a boss, if we don’t find a match for the most important values we hold, we will be miserable. We also need to be able to speak to people who hold different values, because learning to speak to them means listening  and being heard–and being heard is a strong value with almost everyone, although listening is not.

You’ve probably had some thoughts (or heated arguments) on what is “right”–

forks and knives tines up or down in the dishwasher

toilet paper going up over or behind the roll

making important decisions first thing in the morning or when you have had coffee and breakfast

going to the airport 3 hours early to avoid panic or going just in time not to miss the plane so a short flight doesn’t eat up a whole day

Those decisions are based on our values–what we favor, prefer, feel comfortable with. People who hold the value of “big picture” will brush off those examples as not important to a full life. People who hold the values of “details make or break the deal” will think they are important to a good foundation.

To do your best creative work and to have success at a job, you need to choose the job that matches your most closely held values. The place to start is asking the questions, “What are my values?”

–Quinn McDonald is a writer, life- and creativity coach. She helps people sort out their values and use them to their best advantage.

Coaching: Choosing Your Work

Whether you work for yourself, for others, or are contemplating a set of interviews to choose a new job, there are some important thoughts to get in line.

1. Any time you interview for a job, it’s a two-way street. You are interviewing to prove you will be an asset to the company, but you are also interviewing them to see if this company meets your values. As a coach, the problem I see most often is people taking a job that doesn’t honor their values and then wondering why they hate the job.

Values are what you like and hate in life. Here are examples: you like helping others; you dislike working with children; you like to work in the background, not calling attention to yourself; you want monetary recognition for your ideas.

2. Doubt is just doubt, not a sign from above. If you own your business, or if you are working for someone else, any time you make a direction decision, you immediately begin to doubt yourself about making the “best” decision. “Should I have really accepted that promotion?” “Should I have turned down that client for this client?” are both direction decisions.

3. A lot of decisions are set in stone. (Having a child, getting married, signing a contract). They eliminate other choices. Doors shut. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. Go in one direction and explore it thoroughly. If it isn’t right, make a correction. But don’t dither back and forth.

4. Not every job is a lot of money at first. Not every job needs to supply you with a ton of money. You can live on less than you think.

5. Not everything that is money is worthwhile doing. If you are spending a lot of that income you wanted to much on retail therapy because you hate your job, rethink Item 4.

6. Know your motives. If you are going to do something for not a lot of money, know what you are getting from it–experience you don’t have, contacts, resume improvement.

7. Be honest about your needs. No matter how much “fun” something is, if there isn’t money in it, and the only thing you need is money, think it through before you commit a lot of your life to it. The opposite is also true. Do not take any job just because it pays well. If it doesn’t honor your values, it will sink you over time.

–Quinn McDonald is a certified creativity coach and a life coach. She’s a writer who owns QuinnCreative.com (c) 2007. All rights reserved.

Image: http://www.gluttonsess.com