Several years ago I learned a valuable lesson which is that you can't make everybody happy. Now that doesn't mean that I go through my days looking to disappoint others, rather I know that at the end of the day someone will not be happy with the actions that I have taken or result that I provided them. Personally I have found that if you can go about your day without worrying about the little things you will be more successful in meeting expectations of the big picture.
What are your thoughts on this topic? Do you wake up in the morning knowing that you are going disappoint someone? How do you rest at the end of the day knowing that you may have failed to meet someones expectations?
Being happy is a choice. I can only make that choice for me. I can't make it for others. But I have experienced that when I focus understanding the personal and professional drivers in a situation I am more likely to add value.
ReplyDeleteOne client I worked for was continuously challenging the quality of our deliverables. When we asked them to articulate what was lacking, their response was "I'm not happy with X." My PGM showed them a copy of our contract and asked the client to point out where it said "happy."
As a result of that bold move, we all had a good laugh and went on to better define what X meant to them and formulated a new plan that outlined how we could meet and exceed those definitions.
And in the end, the client was "happy."
Ahmed, you raise an interesting question ... and one that reminds me of something my father told me when I was young.
ReplyDeleteYou've heard the adage, "the customer is always right." My father taught me very early in life that the customer is NOT always right, but they are the customer and deserve to be treated so.
The translation I've always taken with me ... you don't have to make them happy, but you do have to be fair and respectful. I believe that most people admire more the people who are fair, honest and respectful than those who give them everything they want. (Kind of like kids ... who need boundaries).
Same goes for businesses....
Tony, while I don't disagree with your comment I would like your understanding of how fair is defined? Reality and life in general leads us to believe that not everything is fair.
ReplyDeleteThe answer to this question is that I don't sleep at night. However, it's not because I am concerned with making someone happy. If making a client/a co-worker/others happy occurs as a bi-product of making my client company better then great. If this bi-product is anger, hey, life aint always cherries. The key distinction is I view my client as the company vs. my individual manager. If I do my job, the client company improves, and my individual client manger is unhappy, then he/she simply doesn't get it and there is nothing I can do about that (except making the obvious recommendation that he/she is not in the right position).
ReplyDeleteHowever, I'm skirting the question as well as the answers provided. I agree with Tony that people should be treated fairly and with respect. However, I'm getting paid to do a job and am expected to do it well (keep in mind my definition of client). If the only right solution is going to make someone unhappy but the company thrive, I can't worry about it and I can't let it affect me emotionally. As a consultant, as soon as you start to allow emotions to impact your recommendations and solutions, you are no longer providing the caliber of consulting that is being paid for. While the metaphor referring to kids works, we have to keep in mind that the people that work for our clients are not kids. They do not need to be handled with kid gloves and can often be spoken to like real live adults rather than in some watered down version of politically correct speech that in almost all cases skirts the reality of the situation at hand.
As far as the definition of fair, I believe we have an obligation, as trusted advisors to follow the highest level of business/personal ethics. We have an obligation to follow the rules set forth by our client. Finally, we have the obligation provide the highest level of service we are capable of providing. If you can accomplish these things, your are being more fair than most.
Stacey - Could not agree more. However, happiness occurs only when the client is successful (read: I win) which is less often than I would like (read: does not happen every time). ...and now we are back to the lack of sleep...