Today, I bought a scarf. On sale, at a chain store. With a coupon. Plus an added discount. A genuine bargain.
The store clerk carefully matched up each edge, smoothing it down into a neat square, before sheathing it in a sheet of tissue paper into which he'd folded a smart pleat down the center.
"Thank you for wrapping that so nicely!" I said, as he slipped it into the mini shopping bag.
"Well, it's silk, it deserves a little love," he replied.
Don't a lot of things?
In France, I'd marveled at the array of packets and parcels into which the store clerks arranged my purchases--both large and small. There was value in taking care.
Aren't most work-related tasks worth doing with at least a little love?
Over lunch one day, a friend looked down at his sandwich ruefully, the smoked turkey flapping half-outside the whole grain bread, more lettuce scattered on the tray than on the bread.
"Some days, they're made with love, some days they aren't," he summed up.
This from a guy who readily admitted that most days, food was little more than fuel for his high-octane workouts.
But people do notice these things. And it all goes into what makes a shopping or eating experience worthwhile.
Care is what sets great companies--and star workers--apart from the rest.
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2 comments:
interestingly too, care is what bonds us to our work. When we take pride in what we do, we invest a part of ourselves, perform better, are more accountable, feel more valued, etc.
Perhaps is a cynical defense mechanism that makes some people shirk the details? I'm not sure. To be sure, they might feel like they're getting away with doing the bare minimum, but I'm sure they also don't feel proud of what they do.
nice post and sentiment
Thanks, Kitty... and you have hit on the benefits of "engagement" in one's work... how taking pride and investing part of ourselves makes us perform better - so true.
I think companies should spend far more time fostering that than coming up with arbitrary rules.
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