Today I’d like to share a couple of really interesting responses to my blog post about “Being Right.”
As a result of reading the post, my cousin Adrienne in North Carolina graciously let her ophthalmologist know that he took her into his office 45 minutes later than her scheduled appointment. His response, “Well, you can go elsewhere.” So she did. I understand doctors are overworked, but so are we all. It is part of the job to be polite, accept responsibility and apologize. A week later, my cousin called to tell me she received a written apology from her eye doctor.
My friend and colleague, Anne Sullivan, told me a policy story to end all policy stories. After waiting in a long line at Curry Village, a concession in Yosemite, Ann bought her 7 year-old daughter an ice cream cone and a coffee for herself. She told the young girl ringing up her purchases that she had her credit card but no ID. She had been hiking all day and had left it in her car. Ann explained that she could provide her ATM PIN number instead. The girl refused and stated the company policy, “You MUST have ID!” Since Anne’s daughter Sophie had already licked the ice cream, Ann asked what she wanted to do with it. The girl said, “She’ll have to give it back.” Sophie gave back the previously licked cone and the concessionaire proceeded to throw it away right in front of the screaming and hysterical child who had waited patiently in line for 40 minutes. It’s ridiculous that an employee would rather take something away from a young child and then proceed to taunt them rather than express any discernment regarding company policy. The girl working at the concession was obviously young and most likely inexperienced. I blame management for the lack of employee training and putting the fear of God into people if a policy is broken. This extreme story highlights the importance of teaching discernment over policy. It is about doing the right thing instead of having to be right.