Nothing is accomplished until the plans and proposals degenerate into work
Bummer.
Two things motivate me to share the topic of this
blog. First, I’m in
big-time summer kind of guy.
And second, the US Open Golf Championship will be held on
Long Island in 2009.That reminds of the occasion a few years back
when the Open was held in Southampton, on
After spending Monday morning on the beach doing
nothing -- a task I am particularly well-suited to doing -- I joined
my wife at the golf course just before noon.
The amount of work accomplished in the hospitality area
between Sunday afternoon and midday Monday was unreal.
On Sunday, the place looked like a garbage dump, but on
Monday it had been transformed into an oasis.
What had looked like a disaster less than a day before now
appeared as a letter-perfect facility.
I walked the course for a while, and had a thoroughly
wonderful day. But
everywhere I went, I was surprised and fascinated by the level of
activity. What struck
me as being the most unexpected was the unbelievably high levels of
service in everything taking place.
The volunteers who act as tournament marshals
along the course were very efficient in controlling the gallery, but
very friendly, informative, and courteous.
The crews preparing for the TV coverage were everywhere but
never got in the way.
The golf pros, entertainers after all, really played to the crowds
(a benefit unique to the practice rounds), but also worked very hard
by playing a number of different shots on each hole, trying to see
how to adapt their game for the difficult links-style course.
The US Golf Association staff ran around like lunatics
attending to every little thing they came across.
The support for the sponsors in the hospitality area was at a
frantic pace.
And then it occurred to me.
Despite the relative insignificance of a golf tournament in
the cosmic order of things, these folks presented as fine an example
of a service business as you could find.
They employed the back-to-basics techniques you would expect
to find in any well-run company.
They always played it extremely close to the users of their
services, even in those case where the ultimate consumer was not yet
in the picture. For
example, the tireless catering staff was constantly asking the
sponsors if everything was alright, were there any questions, did
they want any changes, etc.
Yes, these people had a high service orientation,
but what made it even more effective was plain, old-fashioned
hustle. Think of the
possibilities of businesses that could be dramatically improved if
every employee hustled all the time.
Think of mass transit.
Think of
McDonalds. Think of
lines at the motor vehicle department.
Think of the airlines.
Think of your organization.
Generally, I’m
impressed with the energy level many people display, but we all know
there are moments that beg for more hustle, just as there are times
when we should re-charge our batteries.
When it comes to delivering value to customers, the high and
mighty service quality principles don't amount to diddly if they
don't, as Peter Drucker says, degenerate into work.
Those people who made the golf
tournament happen were having fun, but they were exhausted by
the end of the day. And
that was Monday. They
had two more days of setup during the practice rounds before the
curtain went up on the live rounds Thursday through Sunday.
Not to mention that the whole process is replayed week after
week at different venues all over the
By now you probably think I have completely lost
my mind, taking a perfectly good boondoggle day in the
Bummer.