The Perfect Airport Experience?

Posted by random olio

I know this article is from almost a year ago, but the ideas are still valid. It is a Harvard Business Review article called: “Is Kindness a Strategy?” It is about how an American Airlines employee treated a customer (Frank) with kindness (read the article for his full story). The employee decided to help Frank, who was late for his flight. She made an extra effort to get him through security and onto his flight at the last-minute.

Ah, do you dream of that happening to you? Have you not wanted to go to the airport, have someone take your car and park it for you? You then go to security and get moved to the front of the line, walk to the gate and walk right on the plane, immediately they shut the doors and the plane takes off. There are no delays on the runway, and you are in the air and land on time. The plane goes immediately to your gate, you are at the front of the plane so you get off first, and someone has a car waiting for you when you get outside the airport. Is it a dream? Is it your reality? There are some that might valet their car, go through the First Class line in security, and go right on to the plane, but it is not the reality for most of us that fly the friendly skies.

I wish this could be the experience of all of us when we travel. Even though it is not, it does make me think about what is possible. Travel companies could definitely be more creative to find ways to WOW their customers. Which makes me think back to the title of the article: “Is Kindness a Strategy?” Maybe it should be. I agree with the author, American will now be Frank’s favorite airline. It would be mine, if I had Frank’s experience. What can travel companies do to make us more loyal? Surprise us. Give the upgrade when there are seats in First Class. Give a free rental car because they can tell we have had a rough day. Empower their employees to have more flexibility to make these types of decisions.

It may make a world of difference to their customers.

Decisions, decisions…

Posted by random olio

I was driving to work the other day, when it hit me (no not a car), but a thought. We have to make decisions moment by moment throughout the day. We have to decide: do we go through the yellow light, or stop? Do we honk at the car in front of us? Do we get exasperated? Do we respond nastily to a bad situation? Do we say what another wants us to hear?

We are constantly encountering decisions that have to be made. Do we do a good job at handling them? Probably not always. Do we have a good track record? That depends on the person. Do we get burnt out on making decisions? Of course. I have days when I will tell Chris: I cannot make another decision today. I am burnt out. I do not want to weigh in on dinner or decide on what movie we might watch. I just want to have someone decide for me. It does not happen very often, but sometimes I have eaten too much of the decision meal. No room for dessert. No passing Go. I am done.

How can we feel refreshed and clear-headed in order to go back into the game of decisions? It might depend on what we do for a living. Do we have to make decisions at work, or do we mostly execute on other’s decisions? When we come home has a spouse figured out the game plan for the rest of the day or week, or is it up to us? Having to make a long list of decisions can wear anyone thin.

To recharge might mean trying to take away the long list of decisions whenever possible. Can you make decisions over the weekend that will help you not have to make them in the evenings after a long day of work? Can you plan ahead? At times when I feel overwhelmed, I try to break down the decision I have to make into smaller questions. If I can answer each of those, at times it helps with the larger decision. I am also a big proponent of justification. What I mean by that, is often I will think, if I decide this now, it will mean I will be able to do this later. If my choice means maybe sacrificing something later to get something now, then I am justifying why I made my decision. It often works for me.

What do you do to help cut down, ease, or lessen the decisions you have to make?

A little girl and her Doritos…

Posted by random olio

Last week I came across this Doritos Super Bowl Contest, where fans can make their own ads. The Fast Company article was specifically discussing a video that had a goat screaming. It was good, but then I started looking at the other finalists in the competition. That is when I found this one:

That is one clever little girl. Check out the four other finalists and vote too!

Who are you rooting for on Super Bowl Sunday?

Security, Resilience, and the Road to your Future

Posted by random olio

A few months ago I read: “The Start-Up of You” by Reid Hoffman (Co-founder and Chairman of LinkedIn). The context of the book is that your life is always in start-up mode, and to put the same amount of focus in your life, job, and future as you would in a start-up company. He talks often about how start-ups have to constantly refocus and realign their efforts to make sure they are going in the right direction. He explains that individuals, just the same as start-ups, have to refocus and realign our efforts to make sure the choices we are making in life are going in the right direction. One idea that resonated with me was about resilience:

“…compare a staff editor at a prestigious magazine to a freelance writer. The staff editor at a magazine enjoys a dependable income stream, regular work, and built-in network. The freelance writer has to hustle every day for gigs, and some months are better than others. The staff editor is always well fed; the freelance writer is hungry on some days. Then the day comes when print finally dies, the magazine industry collapses, and the staff editor gets laid off. Having built up no resilience, he will starve. He’s less equipped to bounce to the next thing, whereas the freelance writer has been bouncing around her whole life–she’ll be fine. So which type of career is riskier in the long run, in the age of the unthinkable?” page. 189

Are you the staff editor or the freelance writer? Have you developed the strength you may need if you are the staff editor? It made me think about the different jobs I have had, the choices I have made in my life, and whether or not I would be resilient or not. So often I think we stay in jobs for too long because of the security they bring us, but sometimes that might be a false sense of security. If we could have a window into our future, and know that if we take that risk, and put ourselves out there that everything will work out and be okay. If we had that option, the world might have more risk takers. Yet, we can do that without seeing into the future. We can have a Plan B, we can prepare ourselves to be agile, and in turn develop the resilience of the freelancer. We would bounce back with any changes that get thrown our way, think quickly, and move on to our backup plan.

Which direction will you go? Are you stuck in the security of life? Or, do you treat your life and future like a start-up, constantly changing directions as needed?

Underwear, Fresh Veggies, and Schools

Posted by random olio

Have you heard the song: “There is more than corn in Indiana?” They were wrong. Growing up in Indiana, the only vegetable I remember having fresh was corn. It took me to the age of 25 to truly adopt vegetables into my diet. Looking back, if I had the experience of truly understanding in a hands on way how our food is grown, and then had the opportunity to bite into that tomato knowing how much work it took to grow it, well my food consuming days might have been different.

I am passionate about the issue of childhood obesity in our country. Last week, I wrote about a show on Our America (on OWN) that airs this week. The episode is called “Generation XXL” and is about health for youths. One of the ways that we can begin to have an impact on childhood obesity is in our local communities. A friend of mine lives in Ojai, CA and is partnering with PACT (an underwear company) and Whole Kids Foundation to raise money for an urban garden at Topa Topa Elementary School. You can watch a bit more about this initiative here:

Hooked? I am! It makes me want to see if there are schools doing this initiative in my area. If you want to start by helping Topa Topa Elementary School with their urban garden you can donate on Indiegogo. Just like the kids in the video say, you can donate $200, or $500, or if more people get involved then $10. We need to start in our schools and teach kids where their food comes from, what it takes to create it, what it tastes like when it is real and natural, and to care what they put in their bodies.

Are you in?