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Creative solutions don't always have to come from struggle and sweat. Innovation is sometimes right under your nose, around the corner, or back home where you grew up.
Case in Point: I hate those fink cards you find in some restaurants. You know, the cards that ask you to tattle on your server if you're unhappy with the service. A server who's no doubt underpaid, overworked, and at the mercy of some short-tempered, short-order cook.
Then I got a phone call from my car dealer's customer service department. Sure, it interrupted my day, when they asked me to rate the service. But at least I was talking to a human.
So instead of berating them for trying to make me a stoolie, I paused, took a deep breath, and remembered Marlene. I replied, "Marlene is the most helpful, friendly service manager I've ever met. She's the best part of your dealership. You should put her in charge of the whole place."
After hanging up, I wondered how to improve on the restaurant fink card. I put the problem in the back of my mind and there it stayed until I read the cash register receipt from my neighborhood discount store.
"Please call 1-800... if you receive exceptional service from one of our employees."
Of course! Didn't your mother tell you, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all"? Mine did. Someone at the discount store headquarters took that simple, homespun advice and applied it to the often nasty business of employee management.
No, it's not always the revolutionary, rule-breaking, risk-taking ideas we need. Sometimes the creative solution is as simple as re-applying the tried and true.
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