Clueless "box-checkers"

Those millennial's just don't give a crap, blurted out old-timer Ollie during our weekly office meeting. Not sure I agree with you, replied tenacious Tahoe (yes that is his name). People in the meeting were surprised as Tahoe seemed to pretty much keep to himself yet that day, dressed in his khaki shorts, T-shirt and his hair in a man bun, Tahoe felt compelled to speak out. Aren't you the one Ollie that shared with me those days when people would "pencil whip" reports while sitting in their trucks? Could it be that this issue of just simply "checking the box" is not generational but instead evidence of a declining culture within our country? You could feel the mood in the room had escalated to a point that influential Irene felt that she had to stand up and say, "okay folks let's break this down".

Individuals who feel that their only responsibility is to check that box could be the result of several issues. Certainly laziness does enter the equation; however, I would challenge you to consider that excuse is just an easy out for a deeper cultural issue(s) within your organization. Unfortunately many times we don't take adequate time to help individuals understand why it is important that those boxes are checked appropriately, instead we just focus them on variables to review which give them the ability to check yes or no. Irene continued, let me use a crude example; we train a dog to fetch a paper yet the dog really doesn't understand what the paper is they simply know that when they hear it, they pick it up, and deliver it to their owner. Many organizations have not taken the time to explain what is important to their customers and why. It seems like our fast-paced world has left behind the critical need to build competencies.

When we look past the employee and the organization what exactly is the value of a form or other tool which asks for information and perspective? At the top of my list you would find alignment to the customer's objectives. Thus when you consider the collection of information from any individual, regardless of topic, you should start from what the customer would value and go backwards from that point. The room had become surprisingly quiet as if one big lightbulb just went off. Tahoe added, Irene I get it if we start from the customer outcome and work backwards the input which we request will be much more relevant and likely not nearly as much data entry. As Tahoe stood up his excitement painted on his face, this could apply to everything from the person giving me coffee at Starbucks, to the Uber driver, and field technician. "What a revolutionary concept Irene" exclaimed Tahoe. A reserved giggle now filled the room as respectfully Irene mentioned that this was not a new concept at all, just one that needed to be revisited. Sometimes, continued Irene, we get wrapped up in ourselves and our own organizations and lose sight of what what's most important, creating value for our clients.